Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History

Wotans Krieger Recommends: The Germanic People, Their Origins, Expansion & Culture by Francis Owen

2012-02-19T03:08:00.003-08:00

Although out of print I was fortunate enough to get a second hand hardback copy of this work in near pristine condition.
What makes this work different from others is that Mr Owen is not afraid to cover the racial genesis of the Germanic peoples, the result of the fusing together of the Corded Ware, single grave battle axe wielding Indo-Europeans and the aboriginal Northern Megalithic culture which is reflected in the myth of the war and reconciliation of the Aesir and Vanir Gods of northern mythology.
His work extends far back into the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic period and forward into the Bronze Age and the pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age.
Mr Owen uses the tools of archaeology, linguistics, history, mythology and anthropology in an intriguing way, the latter field rarely used these days when discussing the Germanic peoples. As the work in the scheme of things is fairly recent[1960] it is even more surprising that it is free from the post war anti-Germanic bias which is found in many other `scholarly` works.
I recommend this work to all those who are interested in the pre-history of the Germanic peoples, Germanic mythology and racial anthropology. It offers a thorough grounding in the basics which is sadly lacking in more recent works.

The Importance of Germanic Names and Wyrd

2012-01-29T04:03:00.000-08:00

Since the forced conversion of the Germanic peoples it has gradually become the fashion and the norm for parents to give their babies non-Germanic and often non-Aryan names, particularly biblical names, whether they be traditionally jewish or christian in nature. This trend in recent years has got far worse with the numbers of Nordic children being given names such as Isaac, Jacob and Joshua increasing.

Taken from www.babycentre.uk

1. Oliver
2. Jack
3. Harry
4. Charlie
5. James
6. Joshua
7. Alfie
8. Thomas
9. Jacob
10. Ethan
11. Noah
12. Daniel
13. George
14. William
15. Samuel
16. Alexander
17. Oscar
18. Lucas
19. Dylan
20. Max
21. Benjamin
22. Henry
23. Leo
24. Ryan
25. Matthew
26. Finley
27. Isaac
28. Aiden
29. Jayden
30. Jake
31. Joseph
32. Alex
33. Logan
34. Luke
35. Muhammad
36. Nathan
37. Archie
38. Freddie
39. Riley
40. Connor
41. Ben
42. Sam
43. Lewis
44. Zachary
45. Toby
46. Theo
47. Aaron
48. Louis
49. Tyler
50. David
51. Sebastian
52. Reuben
53. Liam
54. Adam
55. Ollie
56. Edward
57. Luca
58. Harrison
59. Elliot
60. Callum
61. Finn
62. Jamie
63. Rhys
64. Michael
65. Mason
66. Cameron
67. Elijah
68. Owen
69. Gabriel
70. Jackson
71. Seth
72. Blake
73. Leon
74. Jude
75. Tom
76. Caleb
77. Kayden
78. Arthur
79. Evan
80. Pip
81. Dexter
82. Eli
83. Nathaniel
84. Harvey
85. Robert
86. Joel
87. Felix
88. Austin
89. Christopher
90. Stanley
91. Josh
92. Kai
93. Rory
94. Jasper
95. Andrew
96. Patrick
97. Harley
98. Finlay
99. Aidan
100. Louie

1. Lily
2. Emily
3. Isabella
4. Sophia
5. Isabelle
6. Sophie
7. Olivia
8. Ava
9. Chloe
10. Isla
11. Amelia
12. Jessica
13. Grace
14. Evie
15. Charlotte
16. Ella
17. Mia
18. Lucy
19. Freya
20. Ruby
21. Holly
22. Ellie
23. Hannah
24. Emma
25. Abigail
26. Megan
27. Jasmine
28. Daisy
29. Matilda
30. Erin
31. Poppy
32. Imogen
33. Maisie
34. Layla
35. Phoebe
36. Eva
37. Molly
38. Maya
39. Scarlett
40. Annabelle
41. Alice
42. Sienna
43. Amelie
44. Lola
45. Caitlin
46. Amy
47. Madison
48. Katie
49. Zoe
50. Florence
51. Elisabeth
52. Amber
53. Summer
54. Rosie
55. Emilia
56. Rebecca
57. Leah
58. Evelyn
59. Millie
60. Esme
61. Eleanor
62. Willow
63. Georgia
64. Zara
65. Lacey
66. Anna
67. Rose
68. Lexie
69. Eliza
70. Lauren
71. Bella
72. Elsie
73. Eloise
74. Isobel
75. Sarah
76. Martha
77. Keira
78. Faith
79. Niamh
80. Gracie
81. Gabriella
82. Skye
83. Harriet
84. Kayla
85. Alyssa
86. Maria
87. Nicole
88. Nina
89. Paige
90. Kate
91. Orla
92. Bethany
93. Iris
94. Alexandra
95. Sofia
96. Lilly
97. Isabel
98. Hollie
99. Annabel
100. Laila

I have highlighted in bold text those names which are Jewish, Arabic or New Testament in origin. A significant number of the rest are Germanic or even German in origin.

As Wodenists we know that the granting of a name to a child imparts a certain wyrd to that child that influences his character and his luck. Therefore we choose names that are Germanic, that is pre-christian and often these names incorporate the names of our Gods and Godesses.
Vilhelm Groenbech in his The Culture of the Teutons Volume 2 under Chapter 3 Name and Inheritance has this to say on the matter:

"At the point where the new-born child is adopted by the clan he is brought into contact with the power that resides in the possessions of the race. When the father gives the little one a name, and thus determines his fate by speaking a soul into him....." [My emphasis].

It is still the tradition within families for children to be named after their parents, grandparents or other ancestors and this custom goes back to ancient times. It was believed that by doing so one is assisting the rebirth of ones ancestors or kin. This is a good custom and should be encouraged but if the said names are not Germanic in character then it is far better to depart with this custom and instead to use pre-christian Germanic ones. I also encourage adults who bear such forenames or even surnames to relinquish them and choose ones that are more in character with one`s ethnicity and beliefs. This is something which I have done and consequently I have founded a new `dynasty`.

By continuing to impart foreign, ie non-Germanic names, especially non-Aryan names to our children we are granting a foreign and utterly alien character and wyrd to our children. Part of our awakening as an Aryo-Germanic people must be the recognition that Germanic children should be bear Germanic names.

A Dream of the Reawakening of the English Folk

2012-01-21T03:32:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a very interesting and what I feel to be a significant dream about the future of Wodenism in England.
My dream commenced with me viewing an online video of a Woden`s Folk event on my computer at work surrounded by other people who took an interest in what I was viewing.
The video overwhelmingly featured children dressed in red and white costumes and wearing horned helmets.
The scene of the dream then switched to me attending a very large meeting of folkish Wodenists who had gathered from all over England to celebrate England Day or as it is more commonly known-St. George`s Day. There were hundreds of people-all white and all English who came to gather in what was a carnival type of atmosphere. It was a sunny and happy day. I remember saying to a bystander, an old man with a beard "how proud people are of being English".
Coaches of people were arriving but most of these people were old people and I remarked to someone that "these people were probably not Woden`s Folk" but nevertheless were gathering to celebrate this special day.
Significantly there were old people and children who were predominant in this dream. This large number of old people are representative of our ancestors, the children being our descendants, signifying an unbroken genetic link between the past and the future. Our ancient Wodenic religion was being revived and was growing in popularity. The red and white costumes signify the colours of the English Cross flag and the White Dragon flag. The children`s horned helmets represent our Germanic heritage. The coaches signify a communal experience and means of getting to our ultimate destination and achieving our shared goal.
I believe this dream to be prophetic and I cannot help but draw a link between this and the coming referendum on Scottish independance. Freed of Scotland England and the ethnic English people will once again regain their Germanic English identity and proudly reassert this again in the world.
England`s premier Wodenist organisation, Woden`s Folk may be found on http://www.wodensfolk.org.uk/

The Volsunga Saga, Heroism and Blood Purity

2012-01-04T04:32:00.001-08:00

One frequently hears non-folkish heathens making silly statements to the effect that our ancestors welcomed foreigners and did not discriminate against other races and indeed had no concept of race.
Let me address the first two opinions first. Our pre-christian Aryo-Germanic ancestors had a loyalty to their family, their clan, their tribe and their ethnic group[and by extension race]. In those times different Germanic peoples were able to communicate with each other with little difficulty. Any one who has studied Old English and Icelandic which is closely related to Old Norse will agree with me on that point. They recognised a kinship of blood, language and common religion.
Our ancestors fiercely defended the territories that they occupied from foreign invaders-unlike their feminised descendants today who bend over backwards to admit the most racially diverse peoples to invade their lands, squander their resources and impregnate their women. How different modern effeminate and metrosexual man is compared to his heroic forefathers. Even their foremothers had more balls than they.

Ancient man, not just Germanic man recognised racial differences and this subject is explored in great detail in Race in Ancient Egypt & The Old Testament by A.H. Sayce and R. Peterson. A study of ancient Egyptian art settles that question once and for all.
I would like to draw your attention to a very interesting segment from The Volsunga Saga, translated by William Morris, the first English translation from 1907:

`Then spake Volsung the king, "All people and nations shall tell of the word I spake, yet being unborn, wherein I vowed a vow that I would flee in fear from neither fire nor the sword; even so have I done hitherto, and shall I depart therefrom now I am old? Yea withal never shall the maidens mock these my sons at the games, and cry out at them that they fear death; once alone must all men need die, and from that season shall none escape; so my rede it is that we flee nowhither, but do the work of our hands in as manly wise as we may; a hundred fights have I fought and whiles I had more, and whiles I had less, and yet ever had I the victory, nor shall it ever be heard tell of me that I fled away or prayed for peace."`

These brave words were spoken by Volsung, great grandson of Woden to his daughter Signy, the mother of Sinfjotli by her brother Sigmund. Volsung and his sons lived and died by these words of heroism at the hands of their enemy Siggeir, king of Gothland and the husband of Signy.

By contrast today`s Germanic man is certainly not an heroic type. This may in part be due to the loss of the best blood of our race in two needless world wars for the cause of zionism. Another important factor is that Aryo-Germanic man has been systematically made to feel guilt for his race, a guilt first initiated by Judeo-Christianity and then further intensified by the holohaux by the Jews. Even today Germanic Englishmen will willingly enter the service of the zionist regime that runs this country but shirks from defending his land from the aliens who are breaking in here and are already here, raping and looting at will whyilst Aryo-Germanic man looks on emasculated, afraid to call a spade a spade and afraid of his own shadow.
Isreal is more important to him than the survival of his own folk, land and race.

One by one Sigmund`s nine brothers were killed by a she-wolf, reckoned by some to be the troll-wife of King Siggeir. Sigmund survives and for years whilst living underground and living by his wits his sister Signy presents her two sons to him to act as a help-mate but they prove to have inherited their father Siggeir`s bad, ignoble and cowardly blood. Recognising that personal qualities and human characteristics are transmitted by the blood or what we would now call DNA Signy changed outward form and mates with her brother producing a fine and heroic child and his name was Sinfjotli and he proves to be 100% Volsung, which of course he was, being more Volsung than either of his fine parents.
This demonstrates that our ancient Germanic Woden honouring ancestors acknowledged the power of genetic transmission and the importance of blood purity. This is a lesson for modern day Aryo-Germanic man. I hope that it is a lesson that it is not too late for him to yet learn!

The Last Death Rattle of Zion and the Reinstitution of Germanic Forms of Punishment

2011-12-24T02:43:00.000-08:00

The days of this post-christian `western civilisation` are coming fast to a close and I believe that 2012 will have accelerated the process dramatically. One only needs to consider the events of 2011 to realise that the old aeon is quickly dying. Global capitalism is fast drawing its last breath and the grip of zionism is beginning to weaken.

2012 will mark the last death rattle of zionism`s hold upon the world. It is no coincidence that the 2012 Olympics has the word `ZION` incorporated into it, no doubt as a means of hypnotising the masses. The symbol has appeared on all sorts of advertising in the last few years and on products that have absolutely nothing to do with sport. This is the last ditch attempt by zionism to maintain its iron grip upon the world.

The year of the great seventh number accomplished,

it will appear at the time of the games of slaughter,

not far from the age of the great millennium,

when the dead will come out of their graves.

[Prophecies of Nostradamus, Centuries 10-74]

Will 2012 be the "games of slaughter"? 10 Downing Street seem to think so and to counter any terrorist threat they intend to involve the army and surface to air missiles. The only other country to my knowledge to have gone so far with security is the Peoples` Republic of China in 2008.

The fat bloated hook-nosed zionists and their fundamentalist christian lapdogs who currently control the world are fast facing their nemesis and there will be a time of chaos-chaos amongst peoples and in nature.

For many decades a secret Aryan elite have been training themselves all over Europe and the European colonised world to take over in such a power vacuum. In those days christianity will have finally experienced its last death rattle and will succumb to old age and death.

Once again the Aryan peoples will honour their ancient Gods. I see no reason at all why this should not be accompanied by occasional human sacrifice. There is `life in the blood` and an energy that can revive and awaken our sleeping Gods. As in the days of yore we should punish those who break our sacred laws with death.
It was the custom of our ancestors to offer the lives of degenerates-sodomites, traitors and murderers of the innocents to the Gods.

This would help to accomplish two goals-the punishment and removal from society of those who have no place within it and secondly a means to give honour to the Gods who would gain a form of sustenance from their offering.
For far too long heathens have been portrayed in the media as `fluffy bunnies` and `tree huggers` but there is a section of us who do not come under this label and take our heathenism with deadly seriousness.

What I propose is the following in the coming post-christian [based on warped christian ideals], post capitalist and post-`democratic` age when current law will cease to exist:

The sacrifice of

1.Traitors whether these be they who betray their race by polluting the blood or those who betray their tribe.

2.Child murderers.

3.Rapists.

4.Sexual degenerates such as sodomites.

5.Those who break into our territory. Today we would call these illegal immigrants.

The method of execution would be by hanging. In pre-christian times the dead were hanged as an offering to Woden and usually this took place at a crossroads which symbolised the intersection of the world of men[Midgard] with other worlds which are normally not visible to us.
One name of the God Woden was Hangatyr-the God of the hanged. Woden would often converse with the dying at that point which lies between life and death in order to gain secret knowledge.

Sacrifice to the Gods would have the benefit of instilling awe and respect for our Gods in the minds of the masses, driving out any last vestige of thought for the Nazarene and would be a convenient way of cleansing society of those degenerate elements who currently infest it.

Another form of punishment which is less drastic than hanging would be the pronouncement of being made an utlaga, where the utlaga or outlaw would be banished from the clan or tribal lands and would be fair game for anyone who chanced upon him. Only by his wits would he or she survive as they would not be allowed any assistance from the folk.

A third practice which should be reinstituted would be the blood feud where kin would be able to take revenge for any loss that they suffered whether this be loss of life, maiming of the body or loss of material wealth.

Matters of honour would once again be settled by the duel and trial by combat would help determine right from wrong.

All of these forms of punishment can only be instituted in a post-christian, post-democratic and post-capitalist society and when the masses finally see that the underman is no longer the determiner of the direction of society.

Fosite/Forseti-a Prototype of Thunor?

2011-12-23T03:29:00.000-08:00

The Frisian God Fosite possessed an axe and it was He who was considered the law giver and judge of the Frisian tribes. His temple is called Axenshowe. It is possible that this Fosite is the same deity referred to in the Norse Eddas as Forseti, the son of Baldr and Nanna, whose residence was Glitnir. He is represented in the Eddas as a God who settles disputes.
Alcuin in the 8th century CE refers to an island called Fositesland, situated between Frisia and Denmark and named in honour of the God who was worshipped there.
Fosite`s Nordic counterpart Forseti is mentioned once in the Elder Edda and four times in the Younger Edda.

"Glitnir is the tenth, it has golden buttresses,
and likewise is roofed with silver;
and there lives Forseti most days
and puts to sleep all quarrels."

[Grimnismal 15]

"There is a hall called Glitnir, it is held up by golden pillars
and likewise roofed with silver. There Forseti dwells most
days and settles disputes."

[Gylfaginning]

"Then the Aesir instituted their banquet and twelve Aesir who were to be judges took their places in their thrones and their names are as follows: Thor, Niord, Freyr, Tyr, Heimdall, Bragi, Vidar, Vali, Ull, Haenir, Forseti, Loki;....."

[Skaldskaparmal]

"How shall Baldr be referred to? By calling him son of Odin and Frigg, husband of Nanna, father of Forseti,......"

[Skaldskaparmal]

"Yet shall be listed names of Aesir. There is Ygg and Thor and Yngvi-Freyr, Vidar and Baldr, Vali and Heimdall. Then there is Tyr and Niord, I list Bragi next, Hod,Forseti. Here is Loki last."

[Skaldskaparmal]

There are no adventures ascribed to Him in the Eddas which gives the impression that he may have been a `minor` God, if there can be such a thing! An alternative explanation is that he represents the image of a very ancient God. We should not forget that not a great deal is mentioned about the God Tyr in the Eddas but we know that He is a much older deity than Woden and once occupied the chief seat amongst the Gods. So it is quite possible that Forseti or Fosite was eclipsed by another God. If this is the case then who could this God have been?

My guess is that He is Thunor, Forseti`s uncle. This is not so unusual as one may think. Tyr who was once senior to Woden and probably existed at a time when Woden didn`t and yet nevertheless was relegated in the Eddas to being his `son`. We see a similar thing happening with Forseti becoming the nephew of Thunor although He may have been a much older deity.
Fosite, the God of the Frisians who made up part of the Anglo-Saxon tribes like Forseti was a God of justice as the legends surrounding the origin of the Lex Frisionum [Law of the Frisians]makes clear:

Wishing to assemble written lawcodes for all his subject peoples, Charlemagne summoned twelve representatives of the Frisian people, the Āsegas ('law-speakers'), and demanded they recite their people's laws. When they could not do so after several days, he let them choose between death, slavery, or being set adrift in a rudderless boat. They chose the last and prayed for help, whereupon a thirteenth man appeared, with a golden axe on his shoulder. He steered the boat to land with the axe, then threw it ashore; a spring appeared where it landed. He taught them laws and then disappeared.The stranger and the spring are identified with Fosite and the sacred spring of Fositesland.

In addition to being both Gods of justice and having similar names Fosite carries an axe and as previous articles on my Aryan Myth and Metahistory and Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History blogs make clear the axe was the prototype of the hammer of the Thunder God in both Germanic and Indo-European mythology. Thus there is a link between Him and the Thunder God Thunor. Also applying the practice of folk etymology there is also a link between the name of Thor and Foresti.
The judge`s or chairman`s gavel has its origins in the hammer or axe of this God of justice as alluded to in the writings of Rune Master and Ariosophist Guido von List.
Interestingly the reference to the twelve Asegas has a parallel with the 12 Aesir-the major male Gods that is who sat in judgement at the well of Urd each day.

I believe that the legend regarding Fosite and the Asegas is the remnant of a very ancient story preserved amongst the Frisians and reveals an earlier phase of Thunor as His wielding of an axe rather than a hammer indicates.

432,000 Einheriar, the Ragnarok and Kali Yuga

2011-11-20T04:12:00.001-08:00

"Five hundred doors, and forty eke, I think, are in Valhall, Eight hundred Einheriar will at once from each door go when they issue with the wolf to fight."
[The Lay of Grimnir,Younger Edda, Benjamin Thorpe translation].

At the time of the final battle Ragnarok 432,000 faithful warriors[540 x 800], dedicated to Woden, bearing the sign of the knot of the slain/chosen which mark them as belonging to Him will march forth to do battle against the forces of the evil desert idol jehovah and his fundamentalist muslim, christian and judaic hordes. This is reflected in the name Ragnarok itself which reading from right to left[the custom of non-Aryan languages] spells Korangar-meaning the spear[gar is Germanic for spear] of the Koran.

The forces of jehovah are currently divided along the following lines:

.The `western`, `democratic`, christian/post-christian/humanist, zionist, capitalist world.

. The eastern, non-democratic, muslim world.

The latter has for the last 20 years been stirred up by the zionist-western world with the deliberate intention of moving towards an `Armageddon` or what we would term the Ragnarok, the destined end of the Gods, although we know from the Eddas that the Gods will not ultimatley die but will be replaced by a new generation of Gods, which I have thus far found 8 in number-Baldr, Hodr, Hoenir, Magni, Modi, Vidar, Vali and Njord. No Godesses are mentioned. I do not know if this was deliberate or merely an oversight.

Interestingly the number 432,000 is the number of years that the Kali Yuga will last according to Hindu mythology. Also the figure of 540 is repeated in The Lay of Grimnir at verse 24:

"Five hundred floors, and forty eke, I think, has Bilskirnir with its windings. Of all the roofed houses that I know, is my son`s the greatest."

The etymology of Bilskirnir is "the one striking lightning with rays of light".
Skaldskaparmal 4 says that Bilskirnir belongs to Thunor.

"It certainly hints vigorously at some common source from which these widely seperated traditions have descended and at some hidden meaning which makes this figure recur in them."[Page 80, The Masks of Odin Wisdom of the Ancient Norse by Elsa-Brita Titchenell.]

Clearly the composer of the Lay of Grimnir intended to draw a direct link between the 432,000 warriors and the event known as Ragnarok and this in turn is directly linked to the end of the Kali Yuga in the Hindu scriptures. As Elsa-Brita Titchenell rightly concludes they must have a common and thus an Aryan source which has been preserved in these two traditions.

Yet Rudolf Simek in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology under the entry for Valhall conjectures that the number may be "traced back to Hellenic influence" without offering a scintilla of evidence and then laughably goes on to say it "is not a number of any particular significance". Mr Simek, I beg to differ!

Wotans Krieger Recommends: `Woden`, Edited By Troy Southgate

2011-10-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

`Woden` is volume four of an exciting new series of books edited by Troy Southgate-`Thoughts & Perspectives`.
It consists of 11 powerful essays by 9 contributors including Wulf Ingessunu[also recently published in `Northern Traditions`], Offa Whitesun and Troy Southgate of Woden`s Folk. Other contributors are Dr KR Bolton, Mark Mirabello[author of The Odin Brotherhood],Eowyn[Odinic Rite], Mariella Shearer, Osred[author of Odinism, present, past and future]and Bjorn Grimgal.
This is one of the most powerful books on the subject of the Germanic God Woden/Wotan/Odin that I have read in a long time and managed to finish reading the entire book in just a few days. For me one of the most exciting essays[they are all powerful and inspiring] was Dr Bolton`s `Woden As Archetype The Carl Jung Essay` which draws together all the threads which connect Dr Jung`s work on Wotan, his correspondence with Miguel Serrano and the mystical Wotanist experiences of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This essay must be read and reread!
It is also good to see Wulf Ingessunu`s work beginning to reach a far wider audience and I thank Mr Southgate for that.
Please Mr Southgate I would like to see further published work on the subject of the Germanic people`s primary deity!

The Antiquity of Thunor`s Hammer

2011-08-26T03:56:00.000-07:00

Contrary to the assertions of many writers on Germanic religion Thunor`s hammer was already worn as an amulet and religious symbol prior to the Viking Age and was common throughout the Germanic world, not just limited to the Scandinavians.
I give as an example the discovery of hammer amulets in 7th century Jutish graves in Kent.
"Amulets made in the charecteristic shape of Thunor`s hammer were carried by women buried in the seventh century at Gilton and Kingston in Kent. They were worn with other trinkets, including the little spears which were the amulets of Woden."
[Page 25 of Rites and Religions of the Anglo-Saxons by Gale R. Owen]
Owen goes on to state: "Thunor`s signs-hammer and swastika-link him, therefore, with both cremation and inhumation graves in England. Although his name has not survived as a place-name in Anglian areas, the sign of the swastika on Anglian urns is evidence of his influence."
Of course one could argue that the wearing of the hammer by Anglo-Saxons, Jutes and Frisians in post migration Britain was indicative of a heathen reaction against the encroachment of the slave religion of Christianity but it is more likely in my opinion that this practice goes back to deep antiquity but it may have become more popular in the 6th to 7th centuries with the arrival of Christianity.
A passage from page 110 of Brian Branston`s brilliant work The Lost Gods of England states: "There can be little doubt that the Old English Thunor was regarded as the son of Woden and Earth, driving over the storm clouds in his chariot drawn by two goats while he flung his thunderbolt from mountain peak to mountain peak. Many Old English place-names incorporating Thunor have as their second element Old English -leah meaning `wood` or `woodland clearing` and it is certain that the Saxon part at least of our forbears connected the god with trees and particularly with the oak tree. The `blasted oak` has become a cliche because of the tree`s susceptibility to being struck by lightning. No doubt the ancient Indo-European speakers gazed in awe at the riven forest giant after a storm and thought of the god who wielded the thunderbolt. No missile was ever found after the fire and fury were spent, but the searing damage was plain to view: so must have arisen the report of a terrible hammer or axe which flashed from the god`s hand and returned there like a boomerang when its work was done. This weapon was old, older than Thunor. The Indo-European weather god had hurled it. It was found in Crete as the labrys or double-axe[lately to turn up so thought-provokingly on our own doorstep carved in the rocks of Stonehenge]; it occurred in Asia Minor as an attribute of the Hittite weather god, and in the hand of Jupiter Dolichenus. The sign of the double-axe or hammer, a T-shaped mark, has indeed been discovered in the French department of Seine-et-Oise. These marks had been branded so deeply that the skulls still show the scars:....."

Thor`s Axe-the Original Hammer

2011-08-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

This article should be read in conjunction with `Two Hammers of Thor` posted on this blog on 17/1/10.
In addition to the transformation of Thor`s Hammer Mjolnir from a stone weapon into one of metal there is a lot of evidence to suggest that originally this weapon was an axe.
The renowned scholar of Germanic and Celtic mythology H.R. Ellis Davidson repeatedly in her books The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe and Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe refers to Thor`s Hammer as an "axe-hammer" or "hammer-axe".
In Gods and Myths of Northern Europe she states that "the hammer-shaped weapon is similar to the double axe of antiquity, which also represented the thunderbolt, and which was shown in various temples of the ancient world."[page 82]
She also draws an association between the axe-hammer and the sun-wheel, all symbols that were well known in the Bronze Age[page 83].
For more information on this particular aspect see my article Thunor and the Flyfot posted on this blog on 24/10/10.
In Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folklore Walter Keating Kelly refers to Thor`s weapon as being an axe: "It is well known in England and also in Germany, that no witch can step over a besom laid along the threshold of the house door on the inside. She will kick it or push it aside before she can enter your house, and by this token you may know her for what she is. An axe[Thor`s weapon] and a broom are laid crosswise on the inner side of the threshold over which the nurse has to step when she goes out with an infant to have it christened. This is done that the babe may be safe from all the devices of the powers of evil."[pages 226-227]
"....and German herdsmen lay a woman`s red apron, or a broad axe covered with a woman`s red stocking, before the threshold of the house, and make the animals step over it."[page 229-230].
"As Indra used to milk the cloud cows and churn the milk lakes and fountains with the thunderbolt, so did Thor. The German god`s fiery weapon was often represented as an axe, and hence it is a customary thing with witches to draw milk from the handle of an axe stuck in a doorpost."[pages 231-232]

"Se thunor hit thryscedh mid theare fyrenan aecxe."
[An Anglo-Saxon poem, quoted by Kemble, says that the thunder threshes with a fiery axe.]

We must remember that Thor`s hammer or axe was not only an offensive weapon but a defensive one also, used to protect people and animals from malignant supernatural forces and as a tool of consecration in weddings and fertility rites.
On discussing Thor`s hammer Jaan Puhvel states "It is thus the bolt, and it can be represented also as an[originally stone] ax, a club, or a counterclockwise hooked cross symbolizing a thunderball, resembling the Indic svastika-`good luck sign`[from Vedic su-asti-`well-being, good fortune`].[Comparative Mythology, page 201].
According to European Myth & Legend[Mike Dixon-Kennedy] the Lithuanian thunder God Perkunas was red bearded, brandished an axe and rattled across the heavens in a chariot drwan by a billy goat[page 187].
Lithuanian is regarded by scholars as one of the very oldest of the Indo-European languages so it is logical for us to assume that this image of Perkunas is an accurate reflection of the original Aryan thunder God and that his weapon was originally an axe, rather than a hammer. How or why the axe developed into a hammer is a issue that I hope to address in a future article.

The Rise of the Saxons and the Legend of Hengest and Horsa-a Review

2011-08-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

At last a novel which deals with the transfer of the English or Englisc nation from Germania to Britannia.
Ryan West expertly weaves the historical facts in to his historical novel and at the same time makes certain key points that are relevant to the ethnic English people today concerning their survival as a distinct cultual and ethnic folk and the loss of their land and power to immigrant peoples.
This book is certainly not for the squeamish with its graphically portrayed battle scenes and neither would it make comfortable reading for the `liberal` minded politically correct.
West`s interpretation of early English history is refreshing and in his own words "We are taught in England that we are British and therefore have viewed our history from a British perspective and so naturally we have viewed the Anglo-Saxons as foreign invaders. But if we say `NO!` to the people that wish to oppress English identity and do the most un-politically correct thing and think of our history from an English perspective then the Anglo-Saxons weren`t foreign at all, they were us. And we should honour their achievements and tell their stories, because if we don`t, then who will?"
Too few historical novels are based on this part of our history and not told from the Germanic perspective but from the Celtic or Romano-British one. Let us hope that this book will act as a spark for other creative authors to produce works that glorify our Germanic English ancestors and help to give English people, the young especially a sense of who they are. Once this is realised then our people will begin to awaken and then woe betide the politicians, the capitalists, `academics` and capitalists who have betrayed their blood and land!

Eriu,Goddess of the Aryans

2011-08-07T00:41:00.001-07:00

The Gods and Goddesses can communicate with us from the Collective Unconscious via dreams and other states of altered consciousness such as hypnotic trances.
Recently I encountered a Goddess during the hypnopompic state of sleep prior to awaking. I often find that dreams experienced shortly before waking stay imprinted on my memory especially if they have a mystical content as this one clearly did.
My dream seemed short and the entire focus of my attention was on the appearance of a nordic looking female being who spoke these words to me: "I am Eriu,Goddess of the Aryans."
This is all She said but it made a deep impression upon me.
Eriu, daughter of Emer[a God of the Tuatha De Danann] was one of a trinity of Goddesses who along with Banba and Fohla founded the land of Ireland[also known as Eire, Erin and Eireann]. Indeed Eire was named after Eriu Herself. Thus we can conclude that She is a Goddess of sovereignity and inheritence.
In Jungian terms this may be interpreted as the manifestation of the Anima, who may be regarded as the collective manifestation of all the females a man has known, especially one`s mother. This idealised feminine is the direct counterpart to the Animus in women. The Anima is a guide to inner wisdom and is a sign that the dreamer must confront his destructive side. She is the embodiment of the feminine qualities of female power, sensitivity and intuition.
For a person to be psychologically whole the feminine and masculine parts of the psyche must be in balance.
In Germanic mythology the a man`s Anima was known by the term Fylgia who accompanied him throughout his life in Midgard and was a type of ancestral guardian spirit.
I have in part interpreted this dream as a need to explore and integrate the solar mythology with the lunar, the God with the Goddess. Too often in Asatru we focus primarilly on the male deities often to the exclusion of the female deities and this creates a spiritual imbalance. This is something we must address in the Northern Tradition to avoid our religious path becoming imbalanced and to avoid females from being deterred from exploring their native Germanic traditions.
Shortly after the manifestation of Eriu a most exciting Aryosophical work has been published called The Epic of Arya. In Search of the Sacred Light by Abir Taha, the author also of Nietzsche, Prophet of Nazism: The Cult of the Superman-Unveiling the Nazi Secret Doctrine. I fully encourage readers of my blogs to obtain copies of these two exciting works.
It is significant for me that a deity whose name is linked to the term Arya and the blood and soil doctrine should choose to reveal Herself to me.
I believe that as followers of the ancestral Gods we must actively seek to communicate with the Gods and Goddesses and two of the most practical and legal ways of doing so are by inducing trance like states and the incubation of dreams[a subject I shall explore later].

The Rigsthula Revisited

2011-07-31T03:36:00.000-07:00

This article should be read in conjuction with my articles The Rigsthula or Germanic Caste System[16/10/06] and Jarl the Wotan Caste[2/06/07] on the Aryan Myth and Metahistory blog.

Over recent months I have given further reflection to the Rigsthula account in the Poetic or Elder Edda and I have identified an additional interpretation. In addition to this being an account of the introduction of the Germanic or indeed Indo-European caste system or its divine sanction by Rig/Heimdall or Rig/Woden it is also an explanation of the divine interference or involvement in human `evolution`. I use the term `evolution` in a restricted sense as I do not subscribe to the Darwinian concept or theory. Perhaps `development` would be a better term to use.
Rather than viewing the impregnation of the three females-Edda, Amma and Modir as occuring within a short and thus contemporaneous time frame it is possible and indeed likely that there may have been long gaps of time between each visit by Rig to these human or proto-human females. One will observe on reading the account that each subsequent visit and impregnation results in a superior child in comparison to the the previous one[s].
The careful reader will also note that the first mother is called Edda or great grandmother, the second Amma or grandmother and the third and last Modir or mother.
This would imply a genetic link between the three generations rather than the creation of three seperate castes which may or may not be genetically linked. The terminology obviously implies a family relationship between the three children: Thrall, Karl and Jarl and not just a functional or caste relationship but of course both explanations may be equally valid.
The terminology-great grandmother, grandmother and mother should not be interpreted as 3 literal and directly subsequent linear generations. As I have indicated there could and probably was a great deal of time between each generation.
If Rig, being a God was the father of all three children then the astute reader will question why each child is of differing quality to its relatives. The answer to this question is simple. The three females are of differing genetic quality themselves and this would account for the varying quality of the three children.
It is significant that only with the third child, Jarl does Rig develop a paternal relationship.

"Then came Rig walking,
walking out of the thicket, taught him runes;
gave him a name, said he was his son;
then he told him to get ancestral property,
to get ancestral property, a long-established settlement."
[Rigsthula 36]

Rig did not have this relationship with his two other sons. Jarl is certainly favoured by Rig. It is interesting that Rig "taught him runes" as one would normally assume that this was part of the role of the great Rune Lord Himself, Woden.
However Voluspa 1 does refer to the "offspring of Heimdall", whoever this "offspring" may be.

Jarl or `Earl` himself fathers children, the youngest one being Kon or Kin as he is referred to in some translations. Again Rig has a paternal like relationship with his youngest grandson and he appears to be particularly favoured.

"He contended in rune-wisdom with Lord Rig,
he knew more tricks, he knew more;
then he gained and got the right
to be called Rig and to know the runes."
[Rigsthula 45]

From the line of Rig-Jarl-Kon/Kin a noble race of kings was born.
Let us not forget that Rig is cognate with the Irish Ri and itself means `king`. The young Kon[Konr ungr] becomes the King[Konungr] a word which is found in all Germanic languages. So Rig is the kingmaker, the progenitor of Germanic royalty.
Strangely though it is Woden who is usually referred to as being the ancestor of Kings. In some instances such as amongst the Swedes this honour is ascribed to Yngvi-Freyr, the father of the Yngling dynasty.
This is a subject that I hope to revisit as the Germanic Gods feature most strongly as not only the fathers of Germanic royal dynasties but the fathers of the common Germanic folk as well if `common` is an appropriate term to use as I belive that as Teutons we are all sons of the Gods.

Thor`s Hammer Found in Yorkshire

2011-07-03T03:27:00.000-07:00

Taken from the Harrogate Advertiser:

A VIKING treasure pendant, which has laid buried for more than 1,000 years, has been unearthed by an amateur archaeologist.

The silver pendant, known as Thor's Hammer, has been declared treasure at an inquest in Harrogate.

It had been found near Coprove in September last year, by metal detectorist Michael Smith, who, not knowing what it was, had dismissed it as worthless.

"I've been going to this spot for quite a few years," he told the coroner. "I didn't know what it was, I thought it was a bit of rubbish.

"I put it on a forum when I got home, but it was a couple of months later that someone said 'isn't that a Thor's Viking Hammer?'"

Only two or three have ever been found in the UK; the pendant is believed to date back to between the 9th and 11th centuries.

In Norse mythology, Thor was the god of thunder and his distinctively shaped hammer Mjolner is depicted as one of the most fearsome weapons, capable of levelling mountains.

To find a remaining pendant of this Norse symbol, is something of a "coup", said Mr Smith, who, despite many years of experience, was still quite excited by the find.

"You never know what you are going to pick up," he said after the inquest. "Sometimes it's tat, but it's always exciting to see that glint out of the corner of your eye and know that it could be treasure."

Viking find

The 54-year-old, from Cottingley, has been touring North Yorkshire sites since he bought his first metal detector in the 1970s.

"Now I'm always out doing it," said Mr Smith. "I bought my first one from a second hand shop - paid well over the odds for it, mind. Been metal detecting ever since."

The Viking pendant is not the first of his finds. He has discovered some real rarities over the years, which he shares with members of an internet forum, www.detectorist.co.uk

A fortnight ago, at Tadcaster, he found nine King Edward I coins and one King Edward II coin, and just before Christmas last year he found a Saxon pendant near Northallerton.

"One day at Thorner I picked up a 3,500 year-old flint," he said. "It's better than gold. The last person to touch that was probably sat at his fire, shaping his flint, or he could have shot it at a deer and lost it."

His favourite piece is a Roman brooch. "I've unearthed Roman, Saxon, Viking, everything," he said. "But that's my favourite, I wouldn't sell it for the world. I was chuffed to bits when I found it."

Harrogate museums have expressed an interest in buying the pendant, and it is now with valuers who will decide what it is worth. But for Mr Smith, the money doesn't matter, it is all about the adventure.

"It's about getting out and doing something," he said. "I learn more about history than I ever did at school, I have got to know all the different kings and queens.

"Knowing that you're the first person to touch it, in thousands of years, is quite beautiful. The last person to hold that pendant would have been a real Viking."

Further Genetic Evidence for the Germanic Identity of the English People

2011-06-25T02:30:00.000-07:00

The following was taken from a Daily Mail article from 21/6/11 and should be read in conjunction with my article from 27/5/08 under the heading Genetic Evidence for the Germanic Identity of the English People.
It will never cease to amaze me why this truth should `surprise`people. This has been well known to earlier generations of English people but since WWI the Germanic identity of the English people has been systematically denied and hidden by politicians, teachers and supposed `academics`.
Those of us who are part of Woden`s Folk are actively working to address this issue.

It may come as a shock to those fond of quoting a world cup triumph and the outcome of two wars as signs of British superiority.

Scientists say that around half of Britons have German blood coursing through their veins.

Anybody who paid attention in their history lessons knows that tribes from northern Europe invaded Britain after the Romans left in around 410AD.
England prepare to take on Germany at the 1966 World Cup. Archaeological evidence now suggests that 50 per cent of Britons have German blood flowing through their veins

England prepare to take on Germany at the 1966 World Cup. Archaeological evidence now suggests that 50 per cent of Britons have German blood flowing through their veins

But research by leading geneticists reveals the extent to which the Germans became part of the nation's racial mix.

Together with archaeologists who have spent years on sites in the UK, they conclude that 50 per cent of us have some German blood.

Biologists at University College in London studied a segment of the Y chromosome that appears in almost all Danish and northern German men – and found it surprisingly common in Great Britain.

Analysis of tooth enamel and bones found in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries supported these results.
WHO WERE HENGIST AND HORSA?

Hengist and Horsa were two Germanic brothers who arrived on the south-east corner of England in 449 AD.

They are credited with leading the Angle, Saxon and Jutish armies that first conquered the Celts.

The siblings were called to Britain by the Celtic King Vortigem to defend his people against enemies including the Picts.

For their services, they were given the island of Thanet to live on.

However, following a series of falling-outs with the locals, they gradually came to own more and more land that eventually became known as the Kingdom of Kent.

Indeed, Hengist is traditionally named as the founder of the Kingdom of Kent.

German archeologist Heinrich Haerke believes 'up to 200,000 emigrants' crossed the North Sea, pillaging and raping and eventually settling.

The native Celts, softened by years of peace under the Romans, were no match for the raiding parties from across the North Sea.

Pottery and jewellery similar to that found in grave sites along the Elbe River in northern Germany has been unearthed in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries here.

There is also evidence the settlers remained in contact with relatives on the Continent for up to three generations.

The findings have caused a certain amount of gloating in Germany.

'There is no use in denying it,' wrote news magazine Der Spiegel. 'It is clear that the nation which most dislikes the Germans were once Krauts themselves. A number of studies reinforce the intimacy of the German-English relationship.'

Anglo-Saxon is a catch-all phrase to refer to the invaders of the fifth and sixth centuries AD.

Angles came from the southern part of the Danish peninsula and gave their name to England and the Saxons came from the north German plain.

There were other tribes – such as the Jutes, from Jutland, who settled in Kent.

The Anglo-Saxons drove the Britons into Cornwall, Wales and the North, but a few centuries later faced waves of invaders themselves – Vikings from Scandinavia and then the Normans in 1066.

The Fylfot and Church Bells

2011-06-12T03:33:00.000-07:00

I discovered an interesting connection between the pealing of church bells and the sign of the Swastika/hammer of Thunor in Stephen Taylors The Fylfot File. Rev. Taylor states that the Flyfot appears on a number of church bells in the mid-eastern counties of England. He has identified 40 churches that contain such Flyfots in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Yorksire. Of course these counties are situated in the old Danelaw part of England where Germanic heathenism was reintroduced to a christianised Anglo-Saxon population by Danish settlers.
He believes that the occurence of the Flyfot is linked to pre-Christian Germanic tradition. The Fylfot as we know represents the hammer of Thunor/Thor,Donar and in Sweden in Thor`s temples the sound of thunder was imitated by the striking of pieces of metal with a hammer. There may be also an association between this and the presence of cauldrons in myths relating to Thor. Quoting from another author[Ernest J. Eitel] he states: "Perhaps also you remember to have heard that among the German peasantry and in Iceland the same figure is used as a magical charm to dispel thunder."
Rev Taylor goes on to refer to the medieaval custom English custom of ringing church bells to dispel storms and pestilence. Many European bells bore the Latin inscription Fulgura Frango, "I break up the lightning".
He also refers to an Icelandic magical ritual which was intended to deter or punish thieves:"If a man owns a `Thor`s Hammer`, he will know who it is who has robbed him if he loses anything. To make this hammer, one must have copper from a church bell, three times stolen. The hammer must be hardened in human blood on a Whitsunday, between the reading of the Epistle and the Gospel. A spike must also be forged out of the same material as the hammer, and this spike one must jab against the head of the hammer, saying: "I drive this in the eye of the Father of War, I drive this in the eye of the Father of the Slain, I drive this in the eye of Thor of the Aesir." The thief will then feel pain in his eyes; if he does not return the stolen goods, the procedure is repeated, and then the thief will lose one eye; but should it prove necessary to repeat it a third time, he will lose the other eye too."[Quoted via Icelandic Folktales and Legends, Jacqueline Simpson].
We can learn much about our ancient religion by analysing certain aspects of medieaval church practice which contains many elements of our ancient faith.
The above image is that of an early sign of a Thorshammar. One can clearly see the fusion of the traditional hammer of Thor and that of the Flyfot.

Wolfsangel-The Rune of Coming Germanic Resistance

2011-06-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

The Wolfsangel or Wolf-hook Rune does not form part of any historic futharkh although Nigel Pennick in his Secrets of the Runes does place this rune within a fifth Aett.
The rune represents "an ancient iron weapon used to catch and kill wolves. Wolsangel channels magical energy for human use. First it binds all harmful influences and then it obliterates them"[page 77 of The Complete Illustrated Guide To Runes by Nigel Pennick].
He also considers that along with the Anglo-Saxon rune Stan, Wolfsangel is the rune of Vidar, destroyer of the Fenris-wolf[page 119].
"Its greatest use is in binding powerful forces of disorder and dissolution."
"Also, as a wall anchor, it maintained order, preventing the spreading of walls, and the possible collapse of the building."
[page 97, Secrets of the Runes by Nigel Pennick].
The rune is also associated with the sky-God Tyr who sacrificed an arm in order to bind the Fenris-wolf. Its element is earth, its polarity is female, its colour red and it is linked to the metal iron.
With its capacity to bind and destroy forces of disorder and dissolution it was used by the freemen, peasants and farmers of Germany during the Thirty Years War from 1618-1648[a war by the way instigated and prolonged by the forces of Christianity].
Hermann Loens[1866-1914] published his powerful fictional chronicle Der Wehrwolf[The Warwolf] in 1910.
On page 78 of the English translation Loens wrote: "Wolf-runes were carved into the trees in every direction around the hills; they signified: 'Beware! Before you is an abyss, and should you fall in, you are doomed!'" This work will be of interest to Wodenists as there is a clear pre-Christian Germanic religious undercurrent running throughout the whole of the book.
Not surprisingly Der Wehrwolf was required reading for Heinrich Himmler's SS in the closing stages of WWII when Germany was encircled by Bolshevic and Zionist-Capitalist forces, ready to invade and pollute Germany`s sacred soil.
The Wolfsangel became the dreaded symbol of the SS Werewolves and it was found daubed over the doors of collaborators and other traitors. The bodies of executed traitors also bore this sign on a placard as a warning to others who would consider betraying their Volk and Vaterland.
The SS and other non-SS Werewolf units acted as a modern form of the medieaval Holy Vehme who according to Stephen E. Flowers, Ph.D[Edred Thorsson]has its origins in the eight century CE and its revival in the 14th-15th centuries CE with the breakdown of law and order in Germany: "In this time when ancient principles were being violated by the very ones who were supposed to be upholding them[knights and nobles-my emphasis]there arose a mysterious institution: the Holy Vehme[Feme/Veme and Vehme].
The Vehme itself was of ancient origin. Its formal institutions go back to the time of Charlemagne who had established in the law the idea of free-courts in which freemen could apply ancient customary laws to ensure peace and good order in society."[The Northern Dawn. A History of the Awakening of the Germanic Spirit. Volume 1 From the Twilight of the Gods to the Sun at Midnight].
The existence of the Holy Vehme can be traced right through from Charlemagne to the 14-15th century CE, to the 30 Years War, to the Freikorps and the aftermath of WW1 and the Werewolf resistance movement from 1944 to 1949. A thorough history of the Werewolves is given in The Last Nazis. SS Werewolf Guerilla Resistance in Europe 1944-1947 by Perry Bidiscombe. An earlier work by Charles Whiting called Werewolf. The Nazi Resitance Movement 1944-1945 is less authorative in my opinion and quite dismissive in the achievements of these young heroes.
The identity of the members of the Vehme was secret, they met in secret and passed judgement and execution on those who were found guilty of betraying their folk. Execution was mainly carried out by hanging. No doubt this was an unconscious offering to the God of the hanged, Woden.
This rune is beginning to re-emerge in the consciousness of Germanic people, faithful to their Gods who see their lands being systematically invaded and destroyed by alien hordes who are being encouraged to flood our lands by the very democratically elected representatives of the people. The rule of this rootless and folkless political and economic elite is fast coming to an end and they will in time be judged by the people who they have so shamefully betrayed. Their rule is fast coming to an end.

Witchdom of the True-a Review

2011-05-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

I have just completed my first reading of Edred Thorsson`s Witchdom of the True A Study of the Vana-Troth and the Practice of Seidhr.
As always Edred provides penetrating insight into the subject at hand. He starts with establishing the history of the Vana-Troth in Scandinavia, Germany and England and its subsequent suppression by the powerful Christian Church. It would benefit us all, whether we be Asa-tru, Vana-tru or followers of the modern religion of Wicca to realise that the very term wicca is an Old English term meaning the male practitioner of wiccedom[witchdom], wiccecraeft[witchcraft] or wiccung[witching]. It is correctly pronounced 'WITCHuh' and not 'wicker'. The female practitioner was known as a wicca['WITCHah']. The 'Lord` and 'Lady' of Wicca are none other than the Vanir Freyr and Freyja. Whilst this is a legitimate Germanic path and should be regarded as a twin pillar of the Germanic Troth the modern revival of the religion is largeley divorced from its Germanic cultural and spiritual roots and has been used as a tool in recent decades by neo-Marxists to promote their genocidal multicultural and multiracial agenda.
One cannot and should not 'pick and choose' one`s Gods: they are part of one's DMA, one's flesh and blood. For many years we of the folkish Odinist/Wodenist/Wotanist path have realised this. Religion is inseperable from the racial identity of a given folk.
By studying the true Vana origins of Wicca individual practitioners of this path may begin to hear and respond to the Call of the Blood and begin to restructure their practices and beliefs in line with the authentic and traditional practices and beliefs of the Germanic folk to which Vana-tru belongs.
Edred in this book explores the differences between Asa-tru and Vana-tru but also points out their commonality of belief. Whilst Asa-tru focuses on being true to the Aesir Gods and Goddeses Vana-tru focuses on the Vanir who occupied different functions from the Aesir. It should be remembered though that after the First War of the Gods and their subsequent truce and peace agreement the Vanir were joined to and largely subsumed by the Aesir under the lordship of All-Father Woden Himself. However although now part of the Aesir they maintained a seperate identity and Vanir.
The differences between the paths of authentic Vana-tru Wicca and Asa-tru are also to be seen in their different approaches to magic. Vana-tru practitioners use seidr as their principal approach which involves entering trance states and possibly a certain amount of shamanism whilst the Erulian's principal magical tool is the Runes. The Rune Master does not enter into a trance state but approaches the Runes with a combination of intellect[being cognisant of the history, traditions and poems connected to the Runes] and inspiration. Rune Magic has a more intellectual and a less emotional component than seidhr. The principal God of the Runes and Asa-tru is of course the All-Father and Rune Lord Woden whilst in Vana-tru and Wicca it is the Lord and Lady, Freyr and Freyja.
Throughout the book Edred appeals to those who find themselves in the Wicca religion to research and acknowledge the Germanic basis to their religion and for it to be reformed along authentic, traditional, folkish and Germanic lines. There is much work to be done but this book represents an effective and intelligent start and basis for Vana-tru revival within Wicca.

Wotans Krieger-My Awakening

2011-05-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

One thing that we hear too little of in folkish circles is what the Christians would call peoples 'testimonies'.It can be both interesting and encouraging to hear how others with a similar Weltanschauung came to their current beliefs.
I am and always have been a spiritual seeker and being born in a Christian country I naturally began my quest within the prevailing Judeo-Christian religious hegemony.
From my mid teens onward I started to study the Christian Bible, first of all out of interest and then to seek meaning for my existence. At the same time I devoured books on Spiritualism, being convinced that I was a 'Christian Spiritualist'[if there can be such a thing].I spent the best part of 20 years studying the Bible and wandering from church to church, seeking answers and the fellowship of like minded people.I frequented Anglican, Evangelical Free Church, Pentecostal and house churches.
For a long time I tried to ignore the numerous errors and contradictions within the Bible, most especially the various gospel accounts of the life, death and supposed resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
A crisis point came in 1989 with the passing of my mother. Not only did I fail to receive any consolation from these so-called 'loving' Christians but for a long time I failed to feel at ease within the churches, having arguments and confrontations with other Christians over points of doctrine and belief etc. With the passing of my German mother I began to explore the history of the German people, starting with WWII and working back to pre-Christian times, the era of the Voelkerwanderungenzeit.I also started to master the German tongue and over the years from 1994 to 2001 I gained 3 qualifications to Diploma level in this language and qualifications in Dutch and Swedish. Since then I have also gained a Diploma in Rune Divination amongst other subjects. I also studied over languages; Old English and Latin. In 1989 I heard for the first time the music of Richard Wagner`s Der Ring Des Nibelungen and developed a passion for this music, sensing a strange affinity which could not be articulated with words. It spoke to my German and Germanic soul. My love of Wagner`s music led to an interest in and a study of the Runes and Germanic mythology which eventually led to my abandonment of Christianity and my turning to the religion of my Anglo-Saxon and German ancestors: Wotanism/Wodenism.
I felt within me an inner struggle between Jesus Christ and Wotan/Woden and Wotan/Woden won that struggle. It was the beginning of my awakening. I could deny neither the Call of the Blood nor the Call of the Gods. It was simply not consistent for me to hold to a universalist religion and a Hebrew god and maintain the folkish Weltanschauung that I had discovered. The inner tension that existed within me for years finally disappeared and has never returned. One does not 'convert' to Wotanism/Wodenism/Odinism one returns to it. For this religion is a part of our very DNA. As long as the Germanic people continue to exist our Gods will survive. However if our Gods perish then so will we as a distinct people.
Out of the blue approximately 9-10 years ago I received a mail shot from Woden's Folk and something resonated deep within me. I duly responded and joined that organisation as a Supporter, then quickly progressing on to an apprenticeship, becoming a Fellow after my initiation and taking of the Oath of Profession. This marked a major turning point in my life for the first time I began to apply my knowledge in a religious way, worshiping the Gods, not just reading about them. My religion defines now who and what I am and all being well will define my daughter as well.
Woden is calling and his Valkyries are choosing His elect. Will you hear the call?

May Day

2011-04-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

May Day[May the 1st] also known as Beltane is under attack by the Tory government. I suspect that this is less to do with its socialist connotations which are relatively recent and more to do with its authentic heathen and Aryan roots. This government just like any other is anti-Aryan and under undue influence from the christian churches to push through a christian agenda.
In the German speaking lands it is the day after Walpurgisnacht which is one of those times of the year when the veil between Midgard and the other eight worlds is thin.
Among the Celtic peoples Bel is like His Germanic counterpart Balder, a solar deity. His festival announces the beginning of of the summer half of the year when in pre-christian times fires were lit all over northern Europe and people jumped through the flames and smoke to purify themselves and to generate fertility.
According to Nigel Pennick[Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition]the Beltane fire was constructed from the woods of nine different trees. Nine of course is a sacred number in Germanic lore. All fires in the villages were extinguished on May Eve and then relit from the central need-fire which is represented by the rune Nauthiz/Nyd/Naudh/Not. The very shape of this rune which does not appear to vary among the various futharks/futhorks is symbolic of the bow drill used to spark the Need Fire.
The jumping over the fire according to Grimm[Teutonic Mythology] is a more recent substitute for human and then later animal sacrifice.
There were of course the famous meetings of witches on Mayday on the Brocken mountain in the Harz in Lower Saxony. Walter Keating Kelly states that "The human witches of Northern Europe are degenerate and abhorred representatives of the ancient goddesses and their attendants, who were themselves developments of the primitive conception of the cloud-women; but witches, even in their degraded state, exhibit a multitude of characteristics by which we can recognise the originals of whom they are but loathsome caricatures."[Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore]
The Maypole is representative of both the world ash tree, Yggdrasil or Irminsul, the unmoveable representation of the North Star, Asgard. The human spine is also a type of world tree and via it the Sun Initiate may ascend from the lowest of the nine worlds, Hel to the highest, Asgard and other intermediate worlds via spiritual practices such as Rune Yoga and within this spiritual discipline specific exercises such as the Yew Tree working[Nine Doors of Midgard by Edred Thorsson].
The Maypole also represents the phallus and the dancing around it with the coloured streamers signifies both the release of sperm and the kindling of the Need-Fire.
Human life begins with the descent of spirit into matter forming a cross. The vertical line being the direction of spirit and the horizontal being matter. Having descended into physical form the Sun Initiate`s task is to gain experience and then to seek the ascent from matter back into spirit. After sufficient spiritual evolution the Initiate is free from the compulsion of Eternal Recurrence and becomes as it were a God-man, free to choose to return when and where he or she wishes as an avatar. Life in the physical body in reality is a form of sleep and we are in a perpetual dream state. Only with the release of our true Self from the confines of matter will we truly awaken and take with us our life experience as waking from a vivid dream.
This process represents the Armanic concept of Arising-Becming-Passing Away-New Arising taught by Guido von List. Incarnation into individual physical bodies by the God force is an atomisation of the divine and such atomisation or seperation creates the feeling of the "I" and "Not I" which is an illusion. With the release from matter this artificial seperation is extinguished and we again become directly connected with the Absolute.
With the practice of meditation, concentration, visualisation, breathing techniques, runic mantras and runic body shapes we can achieve greater awareness and detachment from illusion. We must as Initiates take the runes beyond the practice of divination and use them as a tool given to the the Germanic peoples to achieve spiritual awakening and upward evolution.

Saxnot, Tribal God and Divine Ancestor of the Saxons

2011-03-27T03:55:00.000-07:00

Who is the God Saxnot?
Rudolf Simek in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology states: "In the baptismal vow, Saxnot is named in a divine triad together with Thor and Wodan and as such we may assume that he must have been an important god."
Some have sought to identify Him with Tyr or Freyr. In particular Freyr is often mentioned in the same context as Thunor/Donar/Thor and Woden/Wotan/Woden.
The name also occurs in the genealogies of Anglo-Saxon royal houses[Essex]. It takes the form of Seaxnet, Saxneat and Saxnat.He is thus considered to be the divine ancestor of the Saxon folk just as Ing was the divine ancestor of the Angles.
Hilda Ellis Davidson in her Gods and Myths of Northern Europe states: "Saxnot could originally have been Sahsginot, 'sword companion', and this is a fitting name for a war god in whose honour swords were wielded and to whom swords were sacrificed. The worship of Tiwaz under this name may have been brought into Essex when the Saxons came over to Britain."
Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology Volume 1 speculates that the Saxons named themselves either after this God or after their "sword of stone[saxum]".
There is clearly a connection between the Saxons and their tribal name, the name of their short sword the seax and the name of this tribal God. It may very well be that the importance of this God declined after the Saxons started to settle down to a more peaceful form of existence after their colonisation of southern Britain and their adoption of christianity.
Little more is known about Him but bearing in mind that He was considered important enough to be named in the christians` vows of renunciation which accompanied baptism then we need to consider giving honour to this God especially those of us who are of Saxon blood.

Old Saxon

End ec forsacho allum dioboles uuercum and uuordum, Thunaer ende Uuôden ende Saxnôte ende allum thêm unholdum thê hira genôtas sint.

Modern English

'I renounce all the deeds and words of the devil, Thunear, Wōden and Saxnōt, and all those fiends that are their companions'.

Vali the Avenger

2011-02-20T01:41:00.000-08:00

Vali is one of the seven Gods who either survive Ragnarok or are resurrected from Hel.
Along with his brother Vidar and Thunor`s two sons Magni and Modi and Hoenir He survives Ragnarok to be one of the deities of the new Golden Age. Baldr and Hothr are themseves resurrected from Hel.
Vali is the son of Woden and the Goddess Rindr who was bred specifically to avenge the murder of His brother Baldr by killing his brother Hodr. There are at most three references to Vali in the Eddas and in one of these His identity is inferred but He is not named.

"There dwell Vidar and Vali
In the gods` holy seats,
When slaked Surtur`s fire is
But Modi and Magni
Will Mjolnir possess,
And strife put an end to."
[Younger Edda]

"Vidar and Vali will the gods` holy fanes inhabit, when Surt`s fire shall be quenched.Modi and Magni will Miollnir possess, and warfare strive to end."
[Elder Edda]

"Rind a son shall bear, in the western halls: he shall slay Odin`s son, when one night old. He a hand will not wash, nor his head comb, ere he to the pile has borne Baldr`s adversary. By compulsion I have spoken; I will now be silent."
[Elder Edda]

Vali, whose name in Old Norse means `Little Warrior` is an avenging God and no doubt He will be a personification of the avenging Kalki Avatar who must appear before the close of the Kali Yuga at Ragnarok to take vengeance on the enemies of our Gods before the new Golden Age may begin. It is on the 14th day of every Februray that we keep his holy feast.

The Gods of the New Age-Revised Article

2011-01-09T02:05:00.000-08:00

After the great but necessary calamity of Ragnarok there will arise a renewed earth and a new sun and moon. Aryan humanity is destined to survive in the form of the couple Lif[ON `life`] and Lifrasir[ON `the one striving after life] but so are some of the Gods, namely Baldr, Hodr, Hoenir, Magni, Modi, Vidar, Vali and Njord. There is no mention in the Voluspa or the Gylfaginning of any Godesses surviving. Now whether this is intentional or just an oversight I do not know. Of the eight Gods referred to seven are of the Aesir and one of the Vanir-Njord who is said to return to his home of Noatun after Ragnarok. [Vafthrudnismal 39]. Seven is the number that governs occult mysteries. It is a sacred number and signifies the victory of spirit over matter, perfection.

"The Aesir meet on Ida`s plain,
and of the mighty earth-encircler speak,
and there to memory call their mighty deeds,
and the supreme god`s ancient lore"
[Voluspa 58]

Woden will live on in the bodies of his sons Vidar and Vali. Woden`s son Thunor will live on in the bodies of his sons Magni and Modi. These two pairs of brothers are third generation Gods.
Magni[ON `the strong one`] is the personification of Thunor`s strength and at the age of just 3 years He rescued Thunor from under the leg of the giant Hrungnir. His mother was the giant Jarnsaxa.
Modi[ON `the angry one`]is the personification of Thunor`s anger. Less is known of Him than His brother Magni.
Magni and Modi will inherit Thunor`s hammer Mjollnir:

"Vidar and Vali will the gods` holy fanes inhabit,
when Surt`s fire shall be quenched.
Modi and Magni will Miollnir possess,
and warfare strive to end."
[Vafthrudnirsmal 51]

Vidarr[ON `the wide ruling one`] is known as `the slient God` and with his strong shoe he avenges his father Woden on Fenrir the wolf at Ragnarok. His mother is the giantess Grid who lent Thunor her belt of strength, her iron glove and staff to fight the giant Geirrod.
Vali[ON `little warrior`]avenges the death of His brother Baldr at one day old by killing the blind God Hodr. He was bred specifically for this purpose and His mother Rindr is one of the Asyniur[Godesses].
Hoenir along with Woden and Lodur participated in the creation of Germanic mankind. After the war with the Vanir He was given as a hostage along with Mimir by the Aesir.
Apart from Him the other six Gods are pairs of brothers.
He is the only first generation God to survive Ragnarok and it appears that He will partake of priestly office and divine from the Runes:

"The can Hoenir choose his lot,...."
[Voluspa 61]

Hodr[ON `warrior, fighter`], the blind God and the unwitting slayer of His brother Baldr.
Baldr, the second son of Woden and Frigg, the husband of Nanna and the most beloved God of light. Baldr and Hodr represent light and darkness and with their resurrection after Ragnarok they symbolise a return to balance and harmony. These are the only two Gods who are second generation who were killed well before the events of Ragnarok.
Njord is the father of the twins Freyr and Freyja and the husband of the giantess Skadi. His home is Noatun by the sea. He is connected in some way with the more ancient deity Nerthus, a Goddess. He is a God of the wind and sea.
In addition to these eight Gods the Runes[and their knowledge] along with Mjolnir will survive Ragnarok.

When we break down the Gods into the three functions[Dumezil]: sovereignity, warfare and production it is clear that Hoenir occupying the priestly office is a God of the first function. Vidar and Vali being Gods of vengeance and thus warriors and along with Hodr[`warrior, fighter`]occupy the office of the second function.
Magni and Modi possess the hammer which can be used for both waging war and also for blessing married couples and bringing fertility of crops, animals and humans and thus may consider to be occupying the third function.
Baldr, the most loved of the Gods, being a shining God of light I consider along with Hoenir to also occupy the office of the first function but as sovereign and not unlike Hoenir as a priest. The first function originally combined the roles of priest and sovereign which eventually developed into seperate functions amongst certain Indo-European peoples.
Njord as a Van is of course a God of fertility and thus of the third function.
So although the Germanic pantheon is much diminished it is in essence complete and the individual Gods may in the process of time father children either with unnamed Goddesses that may survive Ragnarok or with Aryan humanity who are to be viewed as their `children`.

Yule, Christmas, Capitalism and the BNP

2010-12-26T02:26:00.000-08:00

On the evening of the winter solstice day I and the kindred which I lead commemorated Modraniht, the beginning of the Yule season. Yule is not confined to simply one or several days but actually is a season which spans December and January. The prechristian Germanic peoples only recognised a ten month year. The month of Aerra Jiuli[`Before Yule`] covered December and this was originally the tenth month which is obvious from its Latin name and Aeftera Jiuli[`After Yule`] which covered January.
Naturally the masses of today, heavily influenced by the alien religion of Christianity and market forces focus all their material efforts on just one day, the 25th December without giving any thought at all as to why they do what they do, programmed like robots to keep those cash tills turning over, a veritable shopkeeper`s and capitalist paradise.
Like the imporant Germanic prechristian feast of Easter the christians hijacked Yule and even today many of them refuse to acknowledge the prechristian origins of the season or are blissfully ignorant of it. Even Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, a man who you would think would be aware of the prechristian origins of Yule shamelessly promotes Christmas and defends it as part of British `tradition` without acknowledging that Christianity is an alien eastern religion which invaded Europe and sought to annihilate genuine Aryan spiritual traditions. A defence of Yule I can understand, but Christmas? Why? It is obviously a cynical ploy by Mr Griffin to harness what he considers to be christian and thus anti-muslim forces to his crusade. In doing so he recklessly ignores that it is not Islam which has brought the indigenous British peoples to this present crisis but Christianity and the hidden hand of Zionism. Islam is merely a symptom of the disease; it is not the cause. A wise physician always seeks to cure an illness by identifying and treating the cause not the symptoms which are but a side effect of the problem.
Needless to say many will wake up in a few days from their debauchery and hang overs and rue the amount of money they have wasted and will have to pay back on their credit cards, getting themselves even further into needless debt but will start the whole capitalist process off again in nine months time! The false and nauseous seasonal pity, cheer and kindness will like stardust disappear again in the twinkling eye to be repeated again in twelve months time.
What follows is an articled from this blog originally published on 21st December 2008:

Modraniht is Old English for `Mothers-night`, an ancient Anglo-Saxon feast referred to by the Venerable Bede in De temporum ratione 13. He wrote that the still heathen Anglo-Saxons hold a sacrifice in the New Year in the modraniht id est matrum nocturum["the Modraniht, that is, in the night of the mothers[=matrons?]"]
This feast corresponds to other Germanic Yule-tide festivals. It was once speculated that this may have been a Celtic festival but this is largely refuted these days.
Modraniht may be associated with the cult of the mothers or the matrons largely found amongst the West Germanic tribes and the disablot celebrated by the North Germanic tribes in Scandinavia.
The Matrons or matronae are Mother-goddesses to whom votive stones and altars were set up between the 1st and 5th centuries CE. There are approximately 1100 inscriptions and half give Germanic matron names. The matron cult was also to found amongst the Celtic tribes.
Almost exclusively these matrons were presented in groups of three. These females were worshipped as matrons or Mother-goddesses.
Their functions involved fertility, childbirth, the protection of the family and occasionally to act as war-goddesses. These correspond to the disir in the North Germanic areas.
The dirir were female fertility deities. The word stems from the Old Swedish dis.
This is possibly related to the Old Saxon Idisi mentioned in the First Merseburg Charm.
The disablot is recorded twice in two Icelandic sagas from the middle of the 13th century CE.
In Viga-Glums saga 6 the disablot is celebrated at a Norwegian farm at the beginning of winter in mid-October. Egilssaga 44 also mentions a disablot at an autumnal festival in Norway.
Snorri Sturluson writing in the Ynglinga saga 33 identifies a similar feast at Uppsala in Sweden.
Literary sources indicate that the cult of the disir was more common in Sweden than in West Nordic regions.

First Merseburg Charm

Once the Idisi set forth, to this place and that;
Some fastened fetters; some hindered the horde,
Some loosed the bonds from the brave
Leap forth from the fetters! Escape from the foes!

Wid-Ar

2010-11-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

Taken from the website of Woden`s Folk

The New God form

The new religion of Wodenism is named after the All-Father, Woden, yet in reality the god that we see as being the archetype of the New Age is Widar. The name Widar is usually rendered Forest Warrior which is the title of this article. Widar is seen as a Woodland God, but the warrior bit is usually glossed over – maybe too fierce for certain “humanitarian” pagans!
When using the title we will write it as Wid-Ar which is a breakdown of the title into its two sections of meaning –
Wid – forest, woodland: this is the Old English wudu and is the basis of the name Widukind which could be rendered Forest Kind or Woodland Kind.

Ar – this is a very interesting title since the term “warrior” does not fully cover it. The Root AR is the root of the term Aryan but even this does not render a full meaning. The term Aryan has the same root as certain other words which will give a clue as to the true meaning –

Here/heri/harry/herian/heriar/herle/herjan/har/hari etc.

The Root AR is related to all of the terms used for the Germanic Männerbünd and the concept of the Wild Warrior of the Wilderness. This is a very interesting concept in view of the roots of Wodenism.

Wid-Ar is the son of Woden and the brother of Wali. It is Wid-Ar who slays the Fenris Wolf at Ragnarok and becomes the High God of the New Order. Widar was the son of Woden and Grid and he represents the imperishable forces of Nature.

Widar followed Woden to the Fountain of Wyrd where the three Sisters of Wyrd uttered the following prophecy –

“Early begun.”
“Further spun.”
“One day done.”

To this the Goddess of Fate added – “With joy once more won.” The Goddess explains that even though Woden will fall in the Last Battle Wid-Ar would be his avenger, and he would live to rule over a regenerated world after having conquered his enemies.

Woden falls at Ragnarok, slain by the Fenris Wolf. But it is Widar who avenges him by placing his foot with its Iron Shoe (some say leather) in the gaping jaws and wrenching them apart. This act could only be done to release the Spirit of Woden – for Woden reappears in the New Order as Widar.
At one level the Fenris Wolf represents rampant technology which has overwhelmed our Folk and wrenched them away from their true Gods. We live in the Wolf-Age which is an age of decay, degeneration and destructive powers.

Today Wid-Ar is the Silent God for he sits silent on his throne in Landwidi, awaiting his time at Ragnarok. When his time comes he will be Wid-Ar the Avenger – avenger of Woden and God of Regeneration and Renewal.

The Hooded Man Prophecy is all about the coming of Wid-Ar, for is not the figure of Robin Hood the Forest Warrior? In the Root AR we may also see the name of Herne whose name could well derive from this root. Robin Hood is the Forest Warrior and his father is Woden-Herne – the One-Eyed Hunter-God.

Wid-Ar has certain things in common with the Egyptian god Horus –

1.
Horus is an Avenging God.
2.
Horus is also known as the Silent God.
3.
The name Heru (the Egyptian for Horus) is very much like our here/heri/herian etc.
4.
Horus, like Wid-Ar is the avenger of the death of his father.
5.
Added to these we have a Germanic God named Saxnot revered by the East Saxons; an alternative name for this god was Cheru or Heru – the Sword-God. It is to be noted that Wid-Ar wielded a sword.

The symbol for Horus is a Falcon or Hawk; it is also to be noted that in some legends Horus has only one eye. It is also significant that the symbol for Horus is an eye – the Eye of Horus. It is perhaps significant that Gawain is also associated with the Hawk, and that Parsifal has the role of restorer and the renewal of Nature. Parsifal seems to be a later version of Gawain.

One legend has it that the Sons of Ivalde (Wade) had united their efforts in forging the Sword of Cheru. This is the most famous sword wielded by Ætla the Hun. It is thus not really strange to recall the name Cheru or Heru as being that of the original name for Horus.

The Greek version of Horus rides on a Ram, and this is the symbol of Hama. The alternative name for Wid-Ar is Ing, for this is the Age of Ing or the Age of the Crowned and Avenging Son of the Sun. That this infers a return to an age of wildness and barbarism is clear from this god being the Woodland Warrior, and the archetype being related to the figure of Robin Hood, an outlaw, and a “Wolf’s Head”.

The fundamental difference between Wodenism and that of Asatru, Odinism, and Wotanism is that the former is based upon the rejection of the Hanged God in all his forms, including that of Odin. In our own Wodenic Lore – connected to the new Age of Ing – we recognize a new and virile archetype or god-form, that of Wid-Ar the Avenging Son. Wid-Ar is Woden, who has descended from the Tree of Woe, “swallowed” by the Wolf’s Jaws, and is reborn as Wid-Ar whose archetype is a Crowned God, wielding a Flaming Sword, and wiping away all that is rotten and degenerate upon the Earth.

Traitor Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition to Whore away England`s Forests

2010-10-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

Not content with increasing what the UK gives in international aid by 37% at the expense of British taxpayers the coalition government is now planning to cheat the English people of one of their dearest inheritences: our forest lands.

If Cameron and his capitalist cronies accomplish this I can assure him that Woden will lay a curse upon him and his descendents to the 10th generation and he will forever be known as a traitor to the English people. Anyone who barters away his blood or his sacred soil like a whore is a traitor to his people and will be cursed by the Gods.

I encourage all who love England`s green and pleasant land to sign this petition and make their voices heard to the Westminster pigs around the trough.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests

Thunor and the Flyfot

2010-10-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

There is a clear link between the fylfot[swastika] and the Germanic thunder God Thunor/Thor/Donar and this is via His hammer Mjollnir.
"The image of Thor`s weapon spinning end-over-end through the heavens is captured in art as a swastika symbol[common in Indo-European art, and indeed beyond]"[page 31 of Gods, Heroes, & Kings The Battle for Mythic Britain by Christopher R. Fee]. When Thunor throws His mighty hammer it gives the appearance of a rotating fylfot. The hammer represents one of the four arms of this sacred Aryan symbol. So when followers of the Asatru faith wear the hammer of Thunor around their necks they are also in effect carrying a flyfot or swastika.
Stephen Taylor in his book The Flfot File also draws on this connection: "The Flyfot was, amongst many other things, the symbol of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. It represents a stylised version of his hammer, Mjollnir["Smasher"] which he would throw as a weapon and which would cause the rumblings of thunder and shattering power of lightning."[Page 79].
The association of the hammer with a sky God is to be found amongst other Indo-European cultures. The Baltic thunder God Perkons also carried a hammer called Milna which may very well be linked linguistically to Mjollnir along with the Russian molnija and the Welsh mellt which both mean `lightning`.
The Slavic thunder God Perun carried an axe which fulfills a similar function in mythology to the hammer. Indeed sometimes Mjollnir is referred to as an axe or a club and we must not forget that the Greeke Herakles and the Roman Hercules both carried a club. Other Indo-European sky or thunder Gods such as the Greek Zeus or the Roman Jupiter had a thunderbolt as their primary weapon but we must not forget that Mjollnir is the source of lightning in Germanic mythology. The Indian Indra also carried a thunderbolt as his primary weapon.
Not only is the concept of the thunder and sky God a pan Aryan mythological concept but so also is the fylfot or swastika and no doubt this connection between the two is via the thunder God`s weapon whether it be axe, club, hammer or thunderbolt.

Ing

2010-10-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

"Ing was first among the East-Danes
seen by men until he again eastward
went over the wave; the wain followed on:
this is what the warriors called the hero."
[Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, translation by Edred Thorsson taken from `The Nine Doors of Midgard`]

Who was Ing? Clearly it is more than the name of a Rune stave. We probably have the answer in the following passage taken from Tacitus Germania 2.2:

"In ancient lays, their only type of historical tradition, they celebrate Tuisto, a god brought forth from the earth. They attribute to him a son, Mannus, the source and founder of their people, and to Mannus three sons, from whose names those nearest the Ocean are called Ingvaeones, those in the middle Herminones, and the rest Istvaeones."

The `they` that Tacitus refers to are of course the Germanic peoples. It is generally believed by scholars that the `Ocean` which Tacitus refers to is either the North Sea or the Baltic Sea.
Are there any other traces of this myth to be found in any other ancient writings? Indeed there is one other reference to this myth which is to be found in the Frankish `Table of Nations` from 520CE:

"there were three brothers, first Erminus, second Inguo, third Istio, from them developed thirteen peoples."

Pytheas also encountered a people called the Inguiones on the coast of the North Sea in which case the name dates back to at least the fourth century BCE.

Could the Ing of the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem be the same Inguo of the 6th century CE Table of Nations? The clue is in the line: "Ing was first seen among the East-Danes."
The royal families of the Angles and Danes who lived in what is today`s Denmark and northern Germany have a smiliar origin myth which is to be found in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf where the funeral of Scyld Scefing is referred to along with his mysterious arrival: "They provided him with no lesser gifts, treasureof the people, than those had done who at his beginning first sent him forth on the waves, a child alone. Then also they set a golden standard high over his head, let the water take him, gave him to the sea." This Scy;d son of Scef[sheaf] is clearly the same person as Ing.
The Danish kings traced their ancestry back to Skioldr[Scyld] and were referred to as Skioldungar[Scyldungas]. Curiously over the passing of time they began to be called Ynglingar like the Swedish royal family after the vanic God Yngvi-Freyr.
It is Freyr and not the asa God Woden who is reckoned to be the ancestor of the Swedish royal house. The cult of Freyr was particularly strong in Sweden.
H. Munro Chadwick in his `The Origin of the English Nation` posits the theory that the Swedes originally worshipped the Goddess called Nerthus who had a sanctuary on an island off the Baltic coast which was frequented by a confederation of seven tribes referred to in Germania. Over time he believes that Nerthus transformed into the male Freyr and that Freyr`s sister Freya represented an intermediate stage. This follows the general trend of Germanic society becoming increasingly agnatic.[Descent and inheritence via the male line as opposed to cognatic-via the female line].
Tacitus refers to the worship of this Goddess in Germania 40.2-4. The seven tribes are listed as the Reudigni, the Aviones, the Anglii, the Varini, the Eudoses, the Suarines and the Nuitones. He states: "There is nothing noteworthy about them individually, except that collectively they worship Nerthus, or Mother Earth,...."
The worship of Nerthus, Freyr, Freya and Ing was clearly an important and central aspect of the religion of one or more of the Germanic tribes who gave their name to the land which came to be called England, the land of the Angle, Engle or the people of the God Ing. Interestingly England is pronounced as Ingland in the English tongue.

Preparing the Way for the Last Avatar

2010-06-01T06:46:00.001-07:00

There is an urgent need for Wodenists to step up our spiritual warfare a notch. Here in England we are beginning to witness a folkish awakening of sorts, ill defined and vague no doubt but an awakening none the less.
Now more than ever we must continue the struggle in spiritual realms. If we do not win the struggle in that realm then any exorteric work and effort will be wasted.
One way in which we can do this is to spiritually charge our many sacred sites up and down the length and breadth of England with Wodenic energy.
Whether these be burial mounds, megaliths, henges, hills, wells, groves or whatever we must charge these sacred centres with avataric energy.
It may be helpful to visualise England as having hundreds of sacred energy points, wheels or chakras. These energy points all connect with what are commonly termed as ley lines. They resemble a web, a web of Wyrd in fact. By charging these sacred centres we are actively engaging in a magical work that can determine the course of events. The Rune Magician engages in Rune magic in order to impose his will upon the natural order. In our case it goes beyond the will of the individual Runester. We are in fact putting into effect the will of the Rune Lord Himself, Woden.
By engaging in this esoteric work we are strengthening the avataric force and preparing the indigenous people of this land spiritually for the coming of the last Avatar.
The exact nature of the rituals to be enacted I will leave to the individual to formulate for his or herself. This is a work that we all can and must participate in.
This work will help the folk to become receptive to Woden.
The use of symbols is highly important. We only have to consider the effect of the general and daily exposure of the masses to the ancient symbols and Runes of the Germanic peoples in 1930s Germany. One sacred symbol is worth a thousand words and we must never forget that. Before we engage the intellect of others we must first work upon their receptivity to the archetypes dwelling in the racial Collective Unconscious which knows only symbols and images not words and linear thinking.
Ancient and sacred symbols such as the Runes, sunwheels and fylfots speak to the Unconscious mind and this in turn will gradually affect the Conscious mind.
A folk is tied to its soil as well as its blood. By awakening the `soil` we will have an effect on the blood, awakening the folk gradually. Once our folk has been roused from its deep and long sleep then woe betide those who have sought to shackle the folk and betray its blood and soil! We can each one of us work to bring about the salvation of our folk from the genocide our enemies have planned for it and create a new Golden Age.
Because of the importance and urgency of this message I have decided to post this on 3 of my blogs.

Iceland-a Holy Isle

2010-05-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

Iceland has received a lot of exposure in the news over recent weeks because of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and the consequent disruption to the travel arrangements of millions of people.
However how many people are aware of the special significance of this holy isle? How many realise that the Icelanders were one of the last northern peoples to be christianized in the year 1000 CE under pressure from the Norwegian King Olaf Trggvason? Despite this apparent conversion many of the people still honoured the ancient Gods and Goddesses privately. The Law Speaker Thorgeir Thorkelsson had the responsibility of making the formal decision to accept the alien religion of Christianity at the Althing in that same year. Thorgeir himself was originally a Gothi, a heathen priest. The conversion did not run deep and interestingly Iceland saw the revival of the old religion in the late 1960s and the subsequent formal recognition of Asatru in 1973 by the Icelandic government. At about the same time the old religion was experiencing a revival in other Germanic countries. The Asatru Free Assembly was created in the USA which eventually became the Asatru Folk Assembly and later the Asatru Alliance.
The Ring of Troth was formed by some former members of the Asatru Folk Assembly.
In Australia in 1972 the Odinist Movement received a reassurance by the government that the profession of Odinism would not result in prosecution by the authorities.
In England the Odinic Rite was formed in 1972. A member of their Court of Gothar subsequently created Woden`s Folk in the late 1990s.
Followers of the old religion naturally look to Iceland as a holy isle for it was in Iceland that the Eddas, the sacred literature of the pre-christian Germanic peoples were committed to writing. In addition to the Elder Edda[Poetic Edda] and the Younger Edda[Prose Edda] we have a wealth of saga material which provides us with additional information on the beliefs and practices of the Germanic peoples. Without these writings our religion would be that much the poorer and indeed may have struggled to have ever been revived.
Today in Iceland according to the latest official statistics from 2009 there are 1,395 members of the Asa Faith Society. Obviously this figure does not include those people who honour the old Gods but are not formally alligned with any organisation.
In Iceland there are still 50 known Runestones to be found today.

Walpurger`s Night/Beltane

2010-05-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening the kindred that I ward celebrated Walpurger`s Night, the eve of the Goddess of May, known in the German lands as Walpurger. Typically after the enforced christianisation of the Germanic peoples this Goddess was `converted` into a christian saint.
The evening of the 30th April and the 1st of May has for millenia been acknowledged as a sacred time in the calendars of the ancient Germanic and Celtic peoples. The Celts themselves call this special time Beltane after the God Belenus. This is generally a celebration of the arrival of Summer in the northern lands. Bonfires would have been lit and young men and women would have danced through the smoke of the fires to encourage fertility.
On the 1st May which even today is a national holiday in may parts of the world maypole dancing is still practiced in some English villages and in small towns and villages throughout the Germanic world. The maypole is of course representative of the phallus.
May eve as with Samhain[31st October] is a time when the portal between this and other worlds is weakened and those who possess psychic powers may experience unusual supernatural phenomena.
In the Harz mountains of Germany where my mother was born the witches would gather on the highest peak known as the Brocken. On a stormy Walpurgisnacht the Wild Hunt led by the God Wotan would chase the Goddess Walpurger and the Harzhexen[Harz witches].

England Awake!

2010-04-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

Today is "St George`s Day", England Day. Best wishes to all Anglo-Saxon men, women and children whereever you may be on this sacred day.
St George who is the patron saint of not just England but also of Germany and many other European countries and cities is merely the christianised version of the original Germanic dragon slaying archetype, Sigurd Fafnirsbane, also known as Siegfried in the German lands. It is no wonder then that St George or what he represents-the Germanic dragon slaying archetype should resonate so strongly with English people and by English people I am of course referring only to those people who are ethnically of English descent. One is English by blood not by accident of where one is born. In other words-Anglo-Saxon.
The flag of England-the George Cross is mistakenly viewed by some heathens as being a Christian symbol. It is most certainly not. It has its very origins in the ancient Aryan Sun Cross or Sunwheel and for this reason many folkish Wodenists such as myself continue to use this banner within our sacred rites on this hoy day in conjunction with the White Dragon banner of the ancient English.
The Sun Cross or Sunwheel we must not forget is also a representation of the Eye of Woden and shares an affinity with the "Celtic Cross", another sacred symbol that I shall be using when I conduct the sacred rites of my kindred today.
In the last 10 years we have witnessed an unprecedented resurgence of the George Cross in everyday life from sporting events to political demonstrations and this is a sure indication that the English people-the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of England are waking up and will one day throw off the shackles of their `liberal` capitalist genocidal overlords!
Symbols speak louder than words and are the means by which the Unconscious mind, particularly the Collectice Racial Unconscious can communicate with the Conscious mind.
England Awake!

The Sacred Centre

2010-04-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Both the Germanic and Celtic traditions have a concept of a sacred centre. One can see this in the sacred sites of Tara and Uisnech in Ireland and at Thingvellir in Iceland. The two Irish sites were described "like two kidneys in one animal" according to a Middle Irish source[Davidson, 1988].
It would be helpful to picture in your mind the sacred sunwheel or Eye of Woden when thinking about this concept.
The Eye of Woden is divided into 4 quarters just as Tara is symbolically the centre of Ireland around which the four kingdoms of Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster are situated. Likewise the Icelandic Thingvellir is the symbolic centre of Iceland which in ancient times was divided into four quarters each having their own `Thing` or place of judgement. Thingvellir was the site of the Icelandic `Allthing`.
At such sites the Celts and Teutons at certain times of the year would recite the law, introduce new laws, try cases brought before the priests, chieftains or kings and inaugurate or proclaim new kings. These sites were symbolic of the centre of the cosmos and its very beginnings.
Hilda Ellis Davidson in her book, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe states "The pattern of four divisions round a central point is found in both Iceland and Ireland, and Mueller claims that this is a fundamental pattern in both Germanic and Celtic tradition."
This fourfold division reminds one of the fourfold division of the year and the four cardinal directions. Indeed one can see this same division in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc with its 4 aetts of 32 Runes and its 33rd Rune Gar[the spear of Woden] placed at the centre of the 4 aetts when arranged in a circle. At the centre of both Tara and Uisnech sacred stones were erected: at Tara the Stone of Knowledge[Lia Fail] and at Uisnech the Stone of Division. An example of what these stones may have looked like is the Turoe Stone in County Galloway in Ireland. The stone is curiously dome shaped and its curious patterns are divided into four parts. The stone is said to resemble the Omphalos at Delphi, reckoned also by the ancient Greeks to be the centre of the world.
One of the principal sacred sites of the continental Germans was Eresburg, the location of the Irmunsul, a wooden column held sacred by the Saxons which corresponded with the mythical Scandinavian world tree Yggdrasil, the centre of the nine worlds of the Eddas. The Irmunsul was cut down by Charlemagne in 772. Irmin is considered to be an alternative name for the ancient Germanic sky deity Tiw. The Elder Germanic Rune stave Teiwaz is dedicated to this God and is shaped like a tree. Irmunsul like Yggdrasil supported the entire cosmos. In the Volsungasaga a tree is said to have supported the hall of Sigurd`s grandfather Volsung.
Significantly beneath Yggdrasil the Gods held assembly and so the link between a symbolically central site and divine communication and judgement is paralleled.

Death and Afterlife in Germanic Mythology

2010-01-30T01:48:00.000-08:00

The Eddas tell us that the body of man is divided into the following constituent parts:-

La-blood/lifegiving warmth.

Laeti-motion.

Lik-the physical body consisting of natural elements.

Litr goda-colour/image/countenance.

Ond-spirit/breath.

Odr-the soul/reason.

The Elder or Poetic Edda[Voluspa 17 and 18] contains one of the two myths concerning the creation of man or the first Teutons. Odin along with Hoenir and Lodurr acted as a trinity of Gods in the creation of Teutonic humanity from the form of two trees known as Ask[the male and cognate with the ash tree] and Embla[the female and probably cognate with the Elm tree but there is much scholarly debate over this].
The second creation myth is to be found in Gylfaginning 8 in the Younger or Prose Edda and the ceating Gods in that myth are Odin and Vili and Ve, His brothers.
The body[Lik] has already been formed by the dwarves Mimir and Durinn which is an indication that the dwarves at one time were an early race of Gods as were the giants. Indo-European mythologies have many similar exampes of where early races of Gods are supplanted by more recent ones. One thinks in particular of the struggles between the Titans and the Olympian deities and the wars between the Aesir and Vanir and the Asa/Vana Gods against the giants. Irish or Celtic mythology also has examples of struggles between competing pantheons of Gods which point to a mythologising of actual historical struggles between different ethnic groups for possession of land.
The God Lodurr who is only mentioned once in the Eddas grants la, litr goda and laeti to the lik.
Hoenir according to Voluspa 63 is one of the 7 named Gods who survive Ragnarok and his role in Germanic mythology is uncertain but nevertheless he is one of the three creating Gods and grants odr to the lik.
Odin grants ond which is fitting when one considers that He is the most important deity and the granting of breath or spirit is associated with the highest of Gods or the supreme God of monotheistic religions.
In Gylfaginning Odin grants the breath of life, Vili intelligence and movement and Ve outward appearance, speech, hearing and sight. The etymology of Ve suggests that he is associated with the word ve meaning `holy` whilst Vili is associated with the `will`. Both are brothers of Odin.
At the point of death the various elements, physical and spiritual/psychic seperate.
The earthly matter, la and lik seperate from a person`s higher elements and remain on Midgardr. What remains, the ond, odr and litr goda travel to the underworld, Jormungrund for judgement. The ond and litr goda are seperated from the odr at Nagrindar, the gates of Niflhel and the remaining odr receives a new litr goda corresponding to the spiritual condition of the odr. So in effect we create our own judgement and our own ultimate destiny whilst here on Midgardr.
Those who die in battle or have led the life of a warrior[spiritual `warriors` included] are selected to reside in either Valhalla with Odin or in Folkfangr with Freyja.
"The earthly death consists of the earthly matter, the la and the lik, being seperated from the person`s higher elements and staying behind on Midgardr. The dead who have fared to Jormungrund are made up of ond, odr, and litr. If one is sentenced to a second death at Gimle, the ond and the litr goda will be seperated from him at the Nagrindar. Then there remains only the odr; and this receives a litr that corresponds with the condition of the odr. The higher elements return to the Godin, traveling to the afterworld; whereas the lower elements are spread across the earth, returning to the waters, to the plants, and to all that lives."[XXIV.9. Asatru Edda].
Those who are judged by the Gods at the Helthing as being guilty of crimes against the Folk or the Gods such as perjury, murder, adultery, defaming of temples, opening of gravemounds, treason and villainy will be sentenced to the second death and punishment in the halls of Niflhel.
"Once a person has died, their higher elements remain around the corpse for three days, and attend their own Helfor. All will have a guide that will lead them to Hel, which appears before them right before their death, carrying their summons to the Helthing. Foremost among them are the Valkyrjur, beautiful maidens with contemplative faces. Whenever a battle takes place, they appear fully armed there on their horses, although some wear feather guises, and with their spear shafts point out the champions whom Odinn and Freyja have selected for their halls, and they carry the fallen to Jormungrund, and from there on Bifrost to Asgardr.
Urdr sends maidservants of a very different sort to the inhabitants of Midgardr who are not among the heroic dead, each by the nature of their death. To those who surrender to the burden of years comes the Dis who is the handmaiden of the bent and stooping. This kind-hearted Dis removes the burden which Elli puts on men, and which gradually gets too heavy for them to bear. Children have their guides, who are motherly, tender, and kind. To those who were snatched away by plague or other epidemics come Leikn and the beings of Niflhel who resemble her, and those who die of disease are carried away by the corresponding vaettir of disease to the Helthing to be judged by the Godin."[XXIV 15, 16 Asatru Edda].
The brave dead who reside in Asgardr with the Gods and Goddesses spend their `time` feasting and fighting, preparing for the day of Ragnarok when they must go forth with the Gods to fight their last battle to prevent the triumph of the forces of chaos, the sons of Muspel.
"All those who die in battle heroically are his adopted children. He assigns them places in Valhol land they are known as Einherjar."
[XXV 6, Asatru Edda].
The etymology of Einherjar is Old Norse and means` those who fight alone`. Thor is designated as Einheri in Lokasenna 62 and means `the one who fights alone`.
Sometimes the dead choose to remain in their burial mounds close to their kin and clan in order to protect them by their presence. There are examples of this to be found in the Icelandic sagas. The concept is also linked to the idea of the dead residing in mountains, particularly dead kings that await their return to their people in times of great national distress. I think in particular of the legends that relate to Friedrich Barbarossa, Friedrich II, Widukind, King Arthur, Bran the Blessed, Charlemagne, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Ogier the Dane, Heinrich the Fowler, etc, etc.
One thing is for sure and that is our ancestors do act as guardians, watching over their descendants down the generations.
"Those who have become immortal look down on the mortals and protect their children on earth. In Midgardr`s atmosphere, through the entire airspace they travel, and where one prepares sacrifice and invokes them, there come holy, faithful, wise fathers with help and blessings for their children. They bring power, wealth, and descendants; they hear, help, and console; and they fight bravely and heroically in battle."[XXIV 29, Asatru Edda].
There is also evidence to support the case for reincarnation in both Germanic and Celtic mythology and such reincarnation appears to manifest within the same family and genetic lines with forefathers reincarnating as their own descendants.
One of the most interesting examples of reincarnation is to be found in the story of Helgi Hjorvardsson who reincarnates as Helgi Hundingsbane and Helgi Haddingjaskati in the Poetic Edda.

The Etymology of Woden

2010-01-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

This article is solely concerned with discussing the etymology of Woden`s name and its various cognates; it is not concerned with an exploration of his many and diverse roles.
Volume 1 of Grimm`s Teutonic Mythology gives quite a detailed analysis of the etymology and the various cognate forms of the name.
Among the Anglo-Saxons He was called Woden, the Langobards knew Him as Wodan or Guodan, the Old Saxons as Wuodan or Wodan, the Frisians called Him Weda, the Goths referred to Him as Vodans and the Scandinavians as Odinn. In the Faroe Isles He was called Ouvin and Saxo Grammaticus refers to Him as Othinus. In Old High German He was known as Wuotan. Another variant is Woatan.
The word is immediately derived from the Old High German watan from which comes the substantive wuot[modern German Wut] meaning wrath, fury, wildness and impetuosity. Grimm deduces from this that by extension Wuotan, Odinn "would be the all-powerful, all-penetrating being".
He goes on to say "How early this original meaning may have got obscured or extinguished , it is impossible to say. Together with the meaning of wise and mighty god, that of the wild, restless, vehement, must also have prevailed, even in the heathen time. The christians were the better pleased, that they could bring the bad sense into prominence out of the name itself. In the oldest glosses, wotan is put for tyrannus, herus malus.......so wueterich......."
He goes on to give examples of how the adjective was used to describe evil kings and evil deeds and thus the christians succeeded in further demonising Woden through their choice and use of language.
"The former divinity was degraded into an evil, fiendish, bloodthirsty being, and appears to live yet as a form of protestation or cursing in exclamations of the Low German people, as in Westphalia: O Woudan, Woudan! .....and in Mecklenburg: Wod, Wod!"
This primary aspect of Woden`s furious nature has in the past manifested itself in the battle rage of the ancient Teutons and the Berserker rage. Furor Teutonicus[Teutonic Fury] was a Latin phrase that referred to the aforesaid fierceness. In the Viking Age the christianised victims of the Viking raids would pray "From the wrath of the Northmen, O Lord, deliver us."

Two Hammers of Thor?

2010-01-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Eddas state that Thor`s hammer Mjollnir was made by the smith dwarves Sindri and Brokkr and is the subject of many giant slaying myths. It had special properties, being able to produce thunder and lightning and when it is thrown it returns to the hand of the thrower. It was also used as a means of consecration at funerals and weddings, thus alluding to Thor`s joint role as God of war and as a fertility deity. In order to handle Mjollnir Thor needs special iron gloves.
It is of great antiquity and features in Bronze Age rock carvings.
In the Viking Age it became the most important symbol for Scandinavian heathendom in its opposition to the alien religion of Christianity and was worn by adherents of the old faith as an amulet. Today those of us who have heard the call of the blood, the call of the ancient Germanic Gods wear this symbol as a visible expression of our faith in our ancestral Gods.
The etymology of Mjollnir is traced to the Proto Norse *melluniaR
Rudolf Simek in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology specuates that "it may be related to Old Slavic mlunuji, Russian molnija, `lightning`[either borrowed from there or else from an early stage] which would allow an interpretation of `the one who makes lightning; another attempt to explain it, however, relates Mjollnir to ON mjoll `new snow`, Icelandic mjalli `white colour`, and as such would mean `the shining lightning weapon`. In earlier scholarship Mjollnir had been connected with Gothic malwjan and ON mala `to grind` and interpreted as `the grinder`".
The etymology is also discussed in Jaan Puhvel`s Comparative Mythology and Puhvel cites the Welsh cognate mellt and also adds: "It is thus the bolt, and it can be represented also as an[originally stone] ax, a club, or as a counterclockwise hooked cross symbolizing a thunderball, resembling the Indic svastika-`good luck sign`[from Vedic su-asti- `well being, good fortune`]. It was a tool that the god used to `hallow` [vigja] beings in a positive vein[consecrate a bride, revive his own goat team, sactify the dead;cf. Indra`s vajra-cognate with Latin vegeo `arouse, quicken`]."
He goes on to add that both Thor and Indra used it as a thunder weapon against giants, serpents and demons. Clearly Thor/Indra relate back to a much earlier Proto-Indo-European thunder God as they like their other Aryan cousins-the Baltic Perkunas, the Slavic Peruna and the Celtic Taranis.
Viktor Rydberg in his Teutonic Mythology volume 1 states: "The hammer is Thor`s most sacred weapon. Before Sindre forged one for him of iron[Gylfaginning], he wielded a hammer of stone. This is evident from the very name hamarr, a rock, a stone."
Ryberg in his Teutonic Mythology volume 2[Investigations into Germanic Mythology Volume II Part 1] repeats this argument: "Thor`s oldest weapon is made of stone. The name itself says so, hamarr, and this is confirmed by the folk-idea of the lightning bolt as a stone-wedge. Likewise Indra`s oldest weapon was made of stone; it is called the `celestial stone`[Rigv.II,30,5] and is said to be `four-edged`[Rigv.IV,22,1,2]. This `four-edged` weapon has its symbol in the swastika, a figure that is rediscovered in the realm of Germanic memory and therefore must have derived from the Proto-Indo-European era.
All this brings me to the passage in the Asatru Edda: "Thorr was brought up in Jotunheimr by a jarl named Vingnir, and when he was ten years old, he received the stone hammer, Vingnir`s Mjollnir."
Far from the Eddas being a mediaeval Christian monkish construction they have their origins deep into the Stone Age as this transition from a stone to an iron Mjollnir represents.

The Four Sacred Treasures of the Tuatha De Danann

2009-12-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

When the ancient Irish Gods, the Tuatha De Danann left their Hyperborean Urheimat to colonize Eire with the permission of their chief God, The Dagda they brought with them 4 sacred objects which feature in Celtic Mythology, the Stone of Destiny[Lia Fail], the Spear of Lugh[Slea Luin], the Sword of Nuada[Claiomh Solais] and the Cauldron of the Dagda[Coire Ansease].

The Stone of Destiny

This sacred stone is the stone on which the High Kings of Eire stood at Tara to confirm their right to the throne. It would confirm the election of the rightful ruler by roaring. The stone was sent to Scotland in the 6th century CE for the crowning of Fergus the Great. An ancient prophecy said that wherever the stone was a king of the Scotic race would reign. The said stone was further removed to England in 1297 by Edward I and became the Coronation Stone in Westminster Abbey. The current monarch can trace her descent back to the very same Scotic or Irish-Milesian rulers. The stone was returned to Scotland in 1996 where it currently resides in Edinburgh Castle. However any future British monarch will still be crowned on this stone when it has been temporarily returned to Westminster Abbey.
The Northumbrian rune stave Stan is esoterically linked to the stone.

The Spear of Lugh

Lugh is cognate with the Germanic God Woden/Wotan/Odin and both possessed a sacred spear. In Germanic mythology this is called Gungnir and runes were engraved on the tip of the spear. This spear was both a practical magical weapon and also a symbol of the divine authority of both of these Gods.
The Northumbrian rune stave Gar is esoterically linked to the spear. Gar is Old English and is cognate with the Old High German Ger, both having the meaning of `spear`.
T.W. Rolleston in his Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[1911] also draws a link to the Hammer of Thor and to the lightening weapon of the Aryo-Indian Thunder God Indra which is suggestive of a common Indo-European magico-cultural inheritance. It also suggests an association with the swastika which is also called the Hammer of Thor.

The Sword of Nuada

Nuada or Nuada of the Silver Hand like the Germanic God Tir was one handed. He lost one of his hands in battle whilst Tir lost his hand as the result of a false oath made to the Fenris wolf.
Nuada was the first king of the Tuatha De Danann and had cognates with the Welsh Nudd and the Gaulish Nodens. A silver hand was fitted to replace his natural one but this blemish subsequently made him unfit to rule the Tuatha De Danann. Interestingly Tir was the original Germanic sky God and may be traced back to a much earlier Indo-European deity long before the emergence of Woden who was subsequently portrayed as Tir`s father and became the primary God of the Teutonic peoples in Tir`s place. The Germanic myths do not explain this apparent `fall from grace`.
The Common Germanic Tiwaz rune stave is Tir`s rune and may be esotrically linked to this sacred object. Some Wodenists also make an association with the Northumbrian rune stave Cweorth although for the time being I can detect no direct link with the sword. Its appearance at the end of the 33 Northumbrian rune row makes it very tempting to draw such an association as the other 3 `Grail` runes certainly are linked with these sacred Celtic treasures.

The Cauldron of the Dagda

The cauldron was a talisman of abundance and regeneration and also appears in the Welsh myth of Bran the Blessed and in the works of the Welsh Bard Taliesin. Not only could the Cauldron feed a host of men but the bodies of fallen warriors immersed inside it would be regenerated but the said regenerated bodies lacked the power of speech.
Cauldrons feature prominently in Celtic myth and I am reminded of the famous Gundestrup Cauldron found in 1891 in a peat bog in Denmark. It is thought to date to the 1st century BCE which would place it within the late La Tene Iron Age period. The mythical and religious figures that feature upon the sides of the cauldron support the view of the Cauldron being an object of regeneration and/or sacrifice.
It is likely that the Cauldron is the original `Holy Grail` and it is interesting that the extant Arthurian literature usually portrays the Grail also as an object of abundance and regeneration.
This sacred object is linked esoterically with the Northumbrian rune stave Calc which is a rune of transformation, a key attribute of the `Holy Grail`.

It is tempting to also draw a special link between the the Sword and the Stone. Arthurian myth places the sword Excalibur in a stone. This of course could be just a simple stone but whilst the sword Excalibur had a supernatural origin like the Sword of Lugh it was also a symbol of divine kingship like the Stone of Destiny and the Sword of Nuada.

Likewise one may draw a special link between the Spear of Lugh and the Cauldron of the Dagda as they also represent the spear of the Celtic hero Parsifal and the Holy Grail of Arthurian myth.

Eire and the Aryan Connection

2009-08-22T00:39:00.000-07:00

Ireland, Erin, Eireann or Eire represents probably the earliest place of settlement of the invading Aryan tribes from the east.
Irish mythology makes reference to five invasions. They are as follows:

The coming of the Partholan into Ireland.

The coming of the Nemed into Ireland.

The coming of the Firbolgs into Ireland.

The invasion of the Tuatha De Danaan.[The folk of the god whose mother is Dana].

The invasion of the Milesians[Sons of Miled] and the conquest of the Tuatha De Danaan.

We know that at least some of these if not all of the invading peoples were of Aryan stock.
As a minimum the Milesians are regarded as the ancestors of the Irish Gaels and the Tuatha De Danaan are widely referred to as the deities of the Irish people. In Irish mythology myth and history seem to blend and mortals and immortals do not appear to have such clear dividing lines between them as in say the Teutonic mythology.

The sciences of comparative linguistics, mythology and modern genetic testing all point to the Irish people having been in possession of Ireland from the earliest days of the Aryan dispersal.
It is conceiveable that the Aryans did not arrive in Ireland all at the same time but came in waves of immigration and possibly using different routes. Mythology tells us that the Milesians came by the way of Spain.

Ulick J. Bourke gives abundant linguiistical evidence in his Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race and Language for the great antiquity of the Irish tongue putting it on a par with Sanskrit, Greek and Latin.

He has this to say about the various invasions:
"All these different migrations had come forth from the Keltic family home; and all spoke the same language. All were Aryan. Thus the ancient annals of Ireland accord most wonderfully with the teaching of the science of comparative philology."

One has only to look at the name or names of Ireland itself to see this ancient Aryan connection.

"For those who for whatever reason wish to resist the idea that the Celtic mythology and religion[as well as culture] is essentially based on Indo-European roots, it might be noted that the first element in the names Ire-land and Ira-n are the same liguistically, and both are related to the Arya-ns of India. Thus the great span of Indo-European culture, from the middle of Asia to the westernmost islands of Europe, can be seen in its full expanse from ancient times."
[Edred Thorsson , aka Dr Stephen Edred Flowers, The Book of Ogham]

This theme is further emphasised by Peter Berresford Ellis, author of various books on Celtic mythology, history and culture, "To demonstrate some of the similarities of vocabulary between Old Irish and Sanskrit, we may refer to the following: arya[freeman] in Sanskrit, from which that much maligned word Aryan comes from. In Old Irish, the cognate is aire meaning "a noble"." [The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends].

In addition to the Aryan connection with the name Ire-land there is also the equally explicit connection with Er-in, Eire, Eireann[pronounced `Aryan`. The Ar Aryan prefix is cognate with Ir and Er and many examples of such connections may be found in other Indo-European languages. What they have in common is their meaning-Land of the Aryans, which is linguistically the same as Aryavarta[Sanskrit] or Iran/Eran.

The Aryan connection may also found in the names of some of the ancient Irish deities, eg Eremon. The name of this Irish god is cognate with Ariomanus a god from Celtic Gaul which in turn is cognate with the Sankrit Aryaman and the Iranian airyaman.[J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, The Oxford Introdution to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World].

According to Irish mythology Eremon was one of three Milesian leaders who set out for the conquest of Ireland. Initially he occupied the north but after a war he became victorious and ruled the whole of Ireland from the sacred centre of Tara.
Prior to this Ireland at one time was ruled by three Danaan kings. The wife of one of these kings was called Eriu. Her name has persisted through the course of time and in the dative form her name, Erinn is now a poetic name for Ireland or Eire.
Professor L. Austine Waddell writes: "And Ireland of the Irish-Scots has also its "Holy Isles", with very ancient remains, including a magnificent "prehistoric" fort of cyclopean masonry in the Hitt-ite style, in Galway Bay, and also significantly named "Aran" or "Arran", which like the name "Erin" and "Ir-land", in series with the "Airy-ana" or "Ir-an" or "Land of the Aryans" of the ancient Sun-worsipping Aryans in the Orient." [The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons].

The Horned God Archetype

2009-08-09T00:56:00.000-07:00

The horned God is an archetype common in many Aryan mythologies, most especially amongst the northern Europeans.
The renowned Wotanist Ron McVan writing in his Creed of Iron Wotansvolk Wisdom states "Through anthropological research one can trace the line of horned god prototypes back to Paleolithic times. The earliest known representation of such a figure is found painted on the interior walls of the Caverne des Trois Freres in Ariege, France and dates to the late Paleolithic period. Among an assemblage of animals, a figure of a man is clothed in the skin of a stag and wearing on his head the antlers of a stag. It seems evident from the relative position of all the figures that the man is dominant and that he is in the act of performing a ceremony."
He goes on to state "It is into the Bronze Age when the horned figure flourished again among the Indo-European[Aryan] tribes of Egypt, Mesopotamia and India. Horned gods were quite common in Mesopotamia, as in Babylon and Assyria. The copper head found in the gold tombs of Ur is believed to be earlier than the first Egyptian dynasty, displaying an advanced stage of metal working.
When Alexander the Great raised himself above the kings of the earth and declared himself a `god`, he wore a horned head piece as a symbol of his divinity. Polytheism appears to have arisen among the Aryan cultures, East and West, with the amalgamation of tribes, each with its own gods. The horned deities were prevalent throughout Greece and Rome."
Greek mythology has its half man, half bull Minotaur and of course the half human and half goat God Pan.
In Egypt the Goddess Hathor was portrayed with cow`s horns and the God Osiris with the horns of fertility.
However what of the horned Gods of northern Europe?
The most prevalent horned deity is Cernunnos. His image dates back as far as 20,000 years ago and was worshipped in pre-christian Gaul. The Gundestrup cauldron from Denmark features a stag-horned God believed to be Cernunnos. The cauldron dates back to the second-first century BCE.
"As a symbol, the stag is of considerable antiquity in the Celtic or proto-Celtic world. For hunters the stag with its tree-like antlers represented the spirit of the forest; its agility, speed and sexual vigour were admired, and there was a mystery in the autumn shedding and regrowth of the antlers in the spring, which could easily symbolise seasonal death and rebirth.
"Stag symbolism is prominent on the Gundestrup Cauldron where the stag-horned god Cernunnos is associated with a stag and where on another plate, a god grasps a stag in each hand.
"In the case of Cernunnos. who is often represented with a stag as well, being antlered himself, one sees the adoption of the animal-attribute perhaps to symbolise the very close and indeed essential rapport between beast and deity."[The Gods of the Celts. Miranda Green].
Cognate with Cernnunos is the name of the God Cerne, whose image as the Cerne Abbas giant lies on Giant Hill above the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. He is renowned for his errect phallus and mighty club. The figure does not have horns but Eric L. Fitch author of In Search of Herne the Hunter speculates that Cerne was once horned and thus further linking him with Cernunnos. He also mentions that the name Cornwall in both its English version and its Cornish[Kernow] refers to "the corner, curved shape or horn-like aspect of the principality itself." He further links the name of Cerne to Herne the Hunter.
The Saxon `horn` is cognate with the Latin `cornu`. The letters `h` and `c` are interchangeable between certain Indo-European languages, the `c` often mutating into `h` .
The name Herne can be identified in place-names in Kent and Hampshire. Herne may be derived from the Saxon word `Hyrne` meaning a corner or angle. An alternaive origin for Herne can be traced to `haer` which means a stone or rock and this can be found as a place-name in Bedfordshire. `Cerne` may also be traced back to the Celtic word `cairn`. This is all suggestive of the curvature of the horns or antlers which relate to both Herne and Cernunnos.
"Thus here we see Horn-Herne-Cernunnos-Kernow-Cornu, all aspects of the one theme of the curved horn. It is therefore no surprise to find that a ghostly figure who wears a set of horns or antlers on his head is known by the name of Herne."[In Search of Herne the Hunter].
Herne is linked to the Wild Hunt which is common to all northern European cultures.
"Wild Hunt stories tell of a spectral hunt which courses across country, through forest or across the sky, usually led by some form of demonic personage with an entourage of ghostly horses, hounds, devils, and otherworldly beings. Accompanying the Hunt are all manner of unfortunates. These include unbaptized children, suicides, murderers, adulterers, criminals, blasphemers, witches and freemasons, as well as soldiers, churchmen and courtesans. They are often deformed, with their heads in their chests or facing backwards"[In Search of Herne the Hunter].
In Germanic mythology and folklore the Wild Hunt is led by Odin/Woden/Wotan.
The Wild Hunt in Germanic regions usually occurs during the Twelve Nights of Yuletide on a stormy night. The scholar Hoefler was the first to prove that the legends of the Wild Hunt are "in an exceptional majority reflections of ancient cults of secret societies".[Quoted via Rudolf Simek`s Dictionary of Northern Mythology]. These were Germanic warrior bands and their earliest reference is to be found in Tacitus` Germania: "For their part, the Harii, besides their military might in which they surpass the peoples listed a little above, savage as they are, enhance their inborn ferocity by trickery and timing: their shields are black, their bodies stained, they choose dark nights for battles, and thus inspire terror with their shadowy horror of a ghostly army. None of their enemies can withstand that strange and so to speak hellish sight: for in every battle the eyes are overcome first."[43.4]
"The name `Harri` probably meant something like `warriors` [cf. Gothic harjis, `army`] and presumably had some connection with the battle practices noted here. Many commentators, following the theories of Hoefler[1934], see in this account evidence for the sort of cult group whose memory survived in the widespread Germanic legends about the Wild Hunt, the ghostly riders who ride through the storms during the twelve nights of Yuletide. These would in origin have been bands of warriors dedicated to *Wodenaz as the god of battle fury[Simek]. This theory rests on some striking similarities, but it is impossible to corroborate. Phrases like a `ghostly army` are just as likely to be rhetorical embellishments added by Tacitus; if they are removed, his description would be well suited to a practice of stealth attacks with no particular supernatural associations."[Rives]
Again returning to Ron McVan, "Within the Aryan tradition of the Celts the horn has a long and celebrated lineage. To the Celts horns were a powerful symbol of virility and power. They not only gave their gods horns, but enhanced their chances of success in battle by wearing horned helmets. It was believed that a warrior wearing such headgear would not only stress his own martial and male qualities, but ensure for himself the protection of the deity whose particular attribute they represnted. Kings and priests were, also , horned to indicate their special power. "
[Temple of Wotan].
In addition to the Gundestrup Cauldron the long lost Gallehus horns which date to the beginning of the 5th century CE also depicts anthropomorphic figures with horns or antlers.
The Abbot`s Bromley horned dance is still practiced each year on the first Monday after 4th September at Abbot`s Bromley in Staffordshire.

The Aryan Invasion Theory and Celto-Germanic Mythology

2009-07-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this article is not to discuss or examine the various theories of Aryan origins and the location of the Urheimat but to consider if the mythologies of the Germanic and Celtic peoples support an invasion theory.
Theories come and go according to the dictates and fancies of the academic world which appears to be as fickle as the rest of humanity.
Do the mythologies of the northern European peoples support an invasion theory? I believe that they do but it is important to realise that what the mythologies cannot do is give us any conclusive indication as to the location of the Urheimat.
We will start with the mythology of the Germanic peoples. Germanic mythology recognises two originally seperate pantheons, the Aesir and the Vanir. Modern writers on the subject superficially designate the Aesir as war and sky gods whilst regarding the Vanir as earth and fertility deities: this is an oversimplification.
Could the two different clans, their meeting, warfare and eventual union be a distant memory of an invading Aryan people confronting an existing Old European population, their clashes in battle and melding together?
As Ralph Metzner states in his The Well of Remembrance: "As the Kurgan and Aryan tribes spread out over Europe, Anatolia, Persia, and India, they consolidated their control over the societies they invaded and conquered. Pastoral, gardening, and farming economies were combined in various ways, as walled towns were built and city-states arose, ruled by warrior kings."
He goes on to say: "Hybrid cultures had hybrid mythologies. Mythologies must obviously reflect the historical, political, economic, and psychological patterns of experience. In Europe, the stories of the warfare between the Aesir and the Vanir deities mirror the clashing of cultures between nomadic, invading Kurgan warriors and the settled farming and gardening communities of Old Europe. Stories of the peacemaking efforts between these two clans of gods, both failures and successes, must surely reflect similar stable and unstable alliances among the hundreds of tribes and clans that wandered back and forth across central Europe for several millenia, right up into the period of the great migrations in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries of the Christian era."
The war that took place between the Aesir and the Vanir was inconclusive, neither side able to achieve a victory. A peace treaty was made and hostages were exchanged. Both sides had to spit into a vessel and they created from the mixing of their spittle a being called Kvasir. This name is cognate with the Norwegian kvase and the Russian kvas, a juice fermented from berries.
The mixing of spittle and the sharing of an intoxicated drink included in ceremonies for the conclusion of peace is common to numerous archaic tribes.
The Vanir gave Njord and his children Frey and Freyja to the Aesir whilst the Aesir gave in turn Hoenir and Mimir to the Vanir.
In the Dictionary of Northern Mythology Rudolf Simek states: "In older scholarship the myth of the Vanir wars was mostly seen as a reflection of a historical war which took place in the 2nd millenium B.C. At that time the established South Scandinavian-West European megalithic culture was overrun by the north-westward advancing battle-axe culture, whence came the mixture of the [non-Indo-European? matriarchal?] champions of the megalithic culture[=Vanir] with the Indo-Germanic battle-axe people[= string ceramics culture=Aesir]. These historical processes would have stayed in memory in the form of the myth of the Vanir and the pact of peace between the Aesir and the Vanir[Eckhardt].
In opposition to this theory, Dumezil pointed out the related myths and legends among other Indo-Germanic peoples[the Romans, Indians] and interpreted the Vanir wars as a result of this as the social conflict within a society in which the hierarchical followers of the kings[=Aesir?] and the farming population [for whom the vegetation cult and magic were of significance] stood against each other. Only through the pact of peace between these social classes-which in the myth of the Vanir wars indeed take on a central position-was the ordered social and religious structure of the Indo-Germanic society created[Dumezil, de Vries]."
Interestingly as a side point the land where the Aesir came from according to Snorri`s etymology in which he mixes together classical, christian and Germanic elements was Asia, called Asaheimr or Asaland, the capital of which is Asgard.
Now what light does Celtic mythology throw upon this issue?
Charles Squire in his The Mythology of the British Islands states: "We also find them seperated into two opposing camps, a division common to all the Aryan religions. Just as the Olympians struggled with the Giants, the Aesir fought the Jotuns, and the Devas the Asuras, so there is warfare in the Gaelic spiritual world between two superhuman hosts."
Interestingly in the above paragraph Squire does not refer to the opposition in the early days between the Aesir and the Vanir but after their union these two clans became known collectively as the Aesir. This may be because of the more dominating warrior role of the Aesir clan. Although this clan were warrior Gods, is the reason why they failed to win the war due to the Vanir being more numerous? The myths do not clarify this issue for us but if the Vanir represent a more numeroud settled agricultural population and the Aesir a less numerous but a warrior elite much more skilled in the arts of warfare it could explain the lack of a decisive outcome in the war.
The new collective Aesir went on to fight further battles with the Giants, resulting ultimately in the climatic battle of Ragnarok. Could the Giants also in some way represent a residual older population still not assimilated or conquered by the Aesir?
Irish mythology knows of up to seven invasions of Ireland by various races of divine, semi-divine or human races. The Book of Invasions is a record of this mythical and semi-historical series of invasions and colonisations.
British Celtic mythology recognises two clans of Gods, the Children of Don which is cognate with the Irish Tuatha De Danann[the people or tribe of the Goddess Danu] and the followers of a Goddess called Domnu; their king is her son Indech. They are more popularly known as the Fomors. Tuatha is cognate with the Germanic Teut The Tuatha De Danann were not the first race of Gods to arrive in Ireland. The Celtic myths recognise two earlier extinct races, the Race of Partholon and the Race of Nemed. Both races expired after each fell victim to a mysterious plague.
Squire states: "Just as the largest Iberian tribe was called the `Men of Domnu`, so the Fomors were called the `Gods of Domnu`. Thus eternal battle between the gods, children of Danu, and the giants, children of Domnu, would reflect, in the supernatural world, the perpetual warfare between invading Celt and resisting Iberian. It is shadowed, too, in the later heroic cycle. The champions of Ulster, Aryans and Gaels par excellence, have no such bitter enemies as the Fir Domnann of Munster and the Fir Gaillion of Leinster. A few scholars would even see in the later death-struggle between the High Kings of Ireland and his rebellious Fenians the last historic or mythological adumbration of racial war.

The Sacred Midsummer Solstice

2009-06-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

Many of us in the Wodenist/Wotanist/Odinist religious community along with people of other prechristian northern European religions will have observed some form of rite in recognition of the summer solstice.
This observance goes back into Aryan prehistory and even after the forced christianisation of our peoples some form of observance of midsummer rites continued.
J.G. Frazer in The Golden Bough states "According to a mediaeval writer the three great features of this festival were the bonfires, the procession with torches round the fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel. The writer adds that the smoke drives away harmful dragons which cause sickness, and he explains the custom of rolling the wheel to mean that the sun has now reached the highest point in the ecliptic, and begins thenceforward to descend."
Mr Frazer then goes on to relate that the main features of the midsummer festivals are characteristic of the spring festivals also.
"In Swabia lads and lasses, hand in hand, leap over the midsummer bonfire, praying that the hemp may grow three ells high, and they set fire to wheels of straw and send them rolling down the hill." He goes on to give further examples throughtout the German-speaking lands and France.
"In our own country the custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has prevailed extensively. In the North of England these fires used to be lit in the open streets. Young and old gathered round them; the former leaped over the fires and engaged in games, while the old people looked on. Sometimes the fires were kindled on the tops of high hills. The people also carried firebrands about the fields."
He also gives further examples from Wales, the Isle of Man, Ireland and even further afield from Lithuania and the Slavic lands.
Mr Frazer explains the prevalence of these midsummer rites in northern Europe due to them being sun charms to provide a proper amount of sunshine in the gloomy north.
He cites examples of our ancestors throwing blazing discs into the air and reasons that such a practice is a type of imitative magic like the swinging of a burning tar-barrel round a pole or the rolling of a burning wheel down a hillside. "by counterfeiting the sun`s progress through the heavens you really help the luminary to persue his celestial journey with punctuality and despatch."
Walter Keating Kelly writing in his Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore states: "Here we see at once that the German custom was nothing else than a dramatic representation of the great elemental battle portrayed in the sacred books of the Southern Aryans. In the one the blazing wheel stands on the top of the hill, in the other the sun stands on the summit of the cloud mountain. Both descend from their heights, and both are extinguished, the sun in the cloud sea, behind the cloud mountain, the wheel in the river at the foot of the hill. Here Indra, Soma, and the army of the Maruts hurl their deadly weapons and charge the demon host; there the triumphant combatants fire upon the foe or brandish their mimic lightning-straw torches-and persue him to the water`s edge. It is worthy of note that the women do not, as on other occasions, take any active part in the German ceremony; their doing so would be inconsistent with its character as an act of mimic warfare. They assemble only as spectators to watch the fortunes of the fight, and to exult in the victory of their own party".
The gathering of druids in recent years at Stonehenge which is perceived[amongst other things] as being a great sun temple demonstrates that we are seeing in our own lifetimes a resurgence in popularity and interest in the prechristian beliefs our our ancestors.

In Memoriam

2009-05-10T02:51:00.001-07:00

In Memoriam-my brother Robert 1950-2009, aged 58 years.

Lo, there do I see my father

Lo, there do I see my mother
and my sisters and my brothers

Lo, there do I see the line of my people
back to the beginning

Lo,they do call to me
They bid me take place among them
in the Halls of Valhalla
where the brave may live forever

Walburganaht 30th April

2009-05-02T03:44:00.000-07:00

This week on the evening of 30th April many of us in the Wodenist/Odinist/Wotanist religion remembered the festival of the German Goddess Walburga. James Hjulka Coulter in his Germanic Heathenry equates this deity with the Norse Freya.
Walburga Frouwa and Her twin brother Ing Fro[Frey] are the Lady and Lord of the Wicca tradition. She leads Woden`s host of wish-maidens and receives half of the heroes slain in battle.
She is the `Protectress of the Slain` and has great magical abilities. She taught Her craft to Woden and is regarded as the patroness of witches and She is the focus of honour at Walburganaht.
Her waggon or `wain` is drawn by by cats and hence the association of this animal with witches.
Treating these creatures with kindness brings the favour of the Goddess.
On the Brocken in my maternal Heimat of the Harz the witches gather every May eve to celebrate their ancient rites.
Whilst the continental Germans kept Walburgasnaht or Walpurgisnacht the Celts kept the festival of Beltane on the same evening. It is a time of magic when the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead are lowered. Fires were lit by the ancient Germans and Celts and people jumped through the smoke and and flames to purify themselves for the forthcoming summer season.

St George`s Day and its Importance

2009-04-25T02:02:00.000-07:00

On 23rd April this week many of us in the Cult of Woden and others within the folkish Wodenist/Wotanist/Odinist religion carried out sacred rights in honour of the dragon slayer which is at the root of St George`s Day or England Day as some of us prefer to say.
With the enforced christianisation of the Germanic peoples many of our old myths, festivals, feasts and holy days were appropriated by the church. What they could not eradicate they stole.
The same strategy applied when building church buildings. More often than not they chose sites which were sacred to our ancestors and our gods; sites of pre-christian temples, groves and burial grounds. The clergy knew that the people could not be prevented from carrying on with their old ways and practices and saw this method as the `lesser of two evils` for them.
St George`s Day is a typical example of this. According to Nigel Pennick in his Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition "Around this day is the remnant of an old festival of fertility, a week before the May Day ceremonies. St George`s Day is the traditional day for parades of dragons, hobby-horses and giant effegies through the streets. St George is a version of the northern hero Sigurd the Dragon-slayer, the Siegfried of Wagner`s opera."
Germanic mythology is full of stories of dragon-slayers, Siegfried or Sigurd being one of the most familiar but we also remember Beowulf whose last brave act before he died was the slaying of the dragon who had been tormenting the folk of his kingdom.
There are many local myths in England which recall the ancient memory of the dragon-slayer. I cite in particular the tale of the Lambton Wyrm:

[Taken from "Dragonorama"]

"The tale of the Lambton Wyrm (sometimes spelled Worm) is an English legend from the Middle Ages. It takes place near the River Wear in County Durham where Lambton Castle stands.

One day young John Lambton - heir to the Lambton name and estate - was out fishing in the river. After an unsuccessful day he finally caught something. Unfortunately it wasn't a fish but an unpleasant-looking eel-like creature.

Lambton threw the creature down a well (which became known as "Worm Well"), believing it would die. In fact it survived and grew - and grew.

Some years later, whilst John Lambton was away fighting in the Crusades, the wyrm, now fully grown, escaped from the well. It began to terrorise the region, killing and devouring local people.

The wyrm also kept on growing until it was large enough to wrap itself three times around the hill that was its home, which was unimaginatively named Worm Hill. The song of the Lambton Wyrm refers to "Pensher Hill", but some believe Worm Hill to be a small hillock to the North of the Wear near Fatfield Bridge.

John Lambton returned from the Crusades and swore to kill the Wyrm that he himself had unleashed. However he realised that it was too powerful for him.

So Lambton sought the help of a local witch. She agreed to cast a spell to help him, but there would be a price. After killing the Worm, Lambton would also have to kill the very next living creature he met on returning to Lambton Hall. He agreed.

With the help of the witch's spell and a coat of mail studded with spear-heads, John Lambton slew the Wyrm in a fierce battle. Exhausted from the battle, he returned home expecting to be met by one of the family dogs. In fact the first living thing he met was his father.

Lambton refused to kill his own father in cold blood. Because he broke his promise to the witch the Lambton family was cursed for nine generations."

There is much value in local folklore and nursery rhymes. They are the vestige of a pre-christian heritage. Jacob Grimm, the auther of Teutonic Mythology recognised this and together with his brother Wilhelm compiled a collection of nursery tales found throughout Germany which are known and cherished throughout the Germanic world.

The myth and symbol of the dragon-slayer is a part of our collective Aryan inheritance and traces of the dragon-slayer are to be found amongst all the Aryan peoples in varying degrees. Walter Keating Kelly writing in his Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore states:"He[Vrita] possessed himself of the sun-wheel and the treasures of heaven, seized the [white] women, kept them prisoners in his cavern, and `laid a curse` on the waters, until Indra released the captives and took off the curse."

The ancient flag of the Anglo-Saxon English people is the White Dragon flag. Here is a history of that sacred banner:

[Taken from White Dragon Flag of Anglo-Saxon England]

"About 450AD. came the landing in Celtic Britain of two warrior traders, Hengest and Horsa who, together with their Saxon, Angle and Jutish followers are traditionally regarded as the founders of England. History records that the White Dragon was their emblem. During the next four centuries, the Saxon, Angle and Jutish settlers; originally from North Germany, Denmark, Jutland and Norway, who, together with the Northmen or Vikings, would become known collectively as the English, advanced from East to West through Celtic Britain.

Various accounts of the times record many battles between armies carrying the Celtic British Red Dragon Banner (now the Welsh Dragon) and the White Dragon Flag of the Saxons, Angles and Jutes (the English Dragon). The White Dragon was, and still is, the emblem of Wessex, the territory of the West Saxons and the English King, Alfred the Great.

Had not the last panels been lost, it is likely that the White Dragon Flag would have been seen displayed on that same Tapestry featuring a scene at Westminster Abbey during a ceremony for the Usurper, William of Normandy.

In a world with few certainties, the White Dragon Flag of the English people underlines our kinship with the past. It tells us from where we came and who we are. It imparts a sense of permanence and continuity. It is defining. Unlike St George's Cross, The White Dragon has no dubious religious connections or background unrelated to fact.

The successful re-emergence of the White Dragon Flag of the Saxons, Angles and Jutes (English) is entirely due to the thorough and detailed research conducted by The English Flag Society. This flag had been almost extinct for about nine hundred years. Investigation by John Green, Secretary of The English Flag Society, of the Early English period between the third and eleventh centuries A.D disclosed many references not only to the White Dragon Emblem, but also others, such as the Boar, Raven, Wolf etc.

Careful and scrupulous investigation, coupled with analysis of numerous references, showed clearly that the White Dragon, in terms of its representation of Englishness, was clearly the most popular. All the ethnic English who support the White Dragon Flag have declared themselves for their Anglo Saxon Jutish origins and drawn an invisible but unbreakable thread to the beginning of the English Nation in Celtic Britain.

Let the ethnic English, without triumphalism or overbearing pride, remind themselves that this modern world imperfect as it is, was made primarily by the Anglo Saxons. Almost all the benefits of modern life, including law, education, transport, medicine, entertainment and communications were derived in part or whole from the exertions of the English. Indeed, the first man on the moon was an American of Anglo Saxon descent!

Let all the English and their descendants, everywhere, whether in America, Canada, Australia or New Zealand remember, that wherever the English established themselves, for the most part, only benefit came from their presence."

It is of vital importance that all of us who are of English or related Germanic descent who reside in England honour St George`s Day and keep the memories and traditions of our Aryo-Germanic ancestors and gods alive in this nightmare multiracial and multicultural chaos that we find ourselves living in.

Ostara

2009-04-18T01:38:00.000-07:00

This week many of us carried out our sacred rites in honour of the Germanic Goddess Ostara[Old High German/OHG name] also known as Eostra[Anglo-Saxon/AS].
She is the Goddess of Spring, of renewal and regeneration. As we give thanks to Her for the reappearance of Spring, of life after death we remember also that She is performing a Great Work in the hearts and minds of our Aryo-Germanic Folk in the various lands in which they now reside.
We ask that She bring about a great Awakening, a spiritual and folkish renewal in the body, blood, DNA and soul of our people. Before any great political change there must first be a spiritual renewal of the kind that we witnessed in late 19th century Germany and Austria.
The ancient name of the month of April amongst the Germanic peoples was Esturmonath, Ostermonat and Ostarmonath.
The Goddess must have been an important deity in the Germanic pantheon as the christian clergy were unable to eradicate Her name or the festivities attached to Her season but instead as with the feast of Yule they were forced to incorporate it within their sacred year. The term Easter is even to be found in the Authorised Version[King James Version] of the Bible.
Jacob Grimm in volume 1 of his Teutonic Mythology makes reference to the OHG adverb ostar expressing movement towards the rising sun, likewise with the Old Norse austr, the Gothic austr and the AS eastor.
She is therefore the divinity of the radiant dawn whose meaning has been usurped by the christian priesthood and appropriated to their doctrine of the resurrection.
In times past bonfires were lit at Easter. Grimm also states that "Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess."
In the Norse Edda a male spirit of light bears the name Austri. One could conjecture that a female being could have been called Austra.
James Hjuka Coulter in his Germanic Heathenry associates Ostara with the Norse Goddess Idun, the keeper of the apples that grant immortality to the Gods. The apple of course is a mythical symbol of regeneration.

The Celtic God Teutates

2009-01-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

The Celtic god Teutates is mentioned by the classical writer Lucan in the 2nd century CE and refers to him as part of a triad consisting also of Esus and Taranis.

"You[Celts] who by cruel blood outpoured think to appease the pitiless Teutates, the horrid Ausus with his barbarous altars, and Taranus whose worship is no gentler than that of the Scythian Diana."
[Lucan, Pharsalia]

The literary references to human sacrifice also marry up with the archaeological evidence.
Referring to the Iron-Age peat bog burial of `Lindow man` Miranda Green writes:

"Perhaps one of the most evocative examples of British human sacrifice is the recent discovery of a peat-bog burial dating to around 300BC. The victim, a young ginger-bearded male, was first poleaxed, then garotted and his throat cut, the elaboration and the victim`s nakedness suggesting a ritual killing. After death the man was placed, crouched, in a shallow pool at Lindow Moss near Wilmslow, Cheshire, possibly to propitiate water or cthonic deities. That the man was not a peasant is suggested by manicured finger-nails and by his neatly clipped moustache, worn in the style of Celtic portrayals in iconagraphy and in the literature. Ritual bog-burials are known elsewhere in the Iron Age, for instance in Denmark, but this is the first British occurrence of a murdered bog-body."
[The Gods of the Celts]

The Celtic triad mirrors similar triads among other Indo-European pantheons such as the Germanic and Indo-Iranian.

"Esus-Lugus, Taranis, and Teutates as a triad receiving human sacrifice may thus roughly match the Scandinavian set of Odin, Thor, and Freyr in pagan Sweden, who were given human victims at Uppsala up to the Christianization in the eleventh century. They, like Jupiter-Mars-Quirinus, were a stylized Western Indo-European embodiment of the erstwhile tripartite pantheon, thus a match for the Eastern structure first glimpsed at Mintanni[Mitra-Varuna, Indra, Nasatya.]"
[Jaan Puhvel, Comparative Mythology]

Later Berne commentaries on Lucan identify Teutates with the Roman god Mars. Other commentaries associate Esus with Mars. They also refer to a sacrifice of a man to Teutates by drowning in a vessel of water.

Commenting on the Celtic triad T.W. Rolleston writes:

"It is noteworthy that in these names we seem to be in the presence of a true Celtic, ie Aryan tradition."
[Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race]

The name Teutates is cognate with words in various Indo-European languages.
"Teutates[Toutates, Totates, Tutates] is derived from *tewta `people`[Old Irish tuath, Oscan touto, Gothic thiuda] and thus resembles in meaning the Umbrian Vofione and the Roman Quirinus."
[Jaan Puhvel, Comparative Mythology]

The name for the Germanic peoples, Teuton has the same meaning and is also reflected in the name of the Teutones a Germanic tribe who were closely associated with the Cimbri a tribe which may have been of Celtic origin.
It has also been speculated that there is a link between Tuisco/Tuisto and Teuton. Tuisco, the son of Mannus was the mythical ancestor of the Germanic peoples and referred to in Tacitus Germania.

It is significant that the various gods of this Celtic triad had different forms of human sacrifice offered to them. Taranis` offerings were burned, Esus` were drowned whilst those offered to Teutates were hanged. This could be a reference to the elements of fire, water and air.

Modraniht[Night of the Mothers]

2008-12-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

Modraniht is Old English for `Mothers-night`, an ancient Anglo-Saxon feast referred to by the Venerable Bede in De temporum ratione 13. He wrote that the still heathen Anglo-Saxons hold a sacrifice in the New Year in the modraniht id est matrum nocturum["the Modraniht, that is, in the night of the mothers[=matrons?]"]
This feast corresponds to other Germanic Yule-tide festivals. It was once speculated that this may have been a Celtic festival but this is largely refuted these days.
Modraniht may be associated with the cult of the mothers or the matrons largely found amongst the West Germanic tribes and the disablot celebrated by the North Germanic tribes in Scandinavia.
The Matrons or matronae are Mother-goddesses to whom votive stones and altars were set up between the 1st and 5th centuries CE. There are approximately 1100 inscriptions and half give Germanic matron names. The matron cult was also to found amongst the Celtic tribes.
Almost exclusively these matrons were presented in groups of three. These females were worshipped as matrons or Mother-goddesses.
Their functions involved fertility, childbirth, the protection of the family and occasionally to act as war-goddesses. These correspond to the disir in the North Germanic areas.
The dirir were female fertility deities. The word stems from the Old Swedish dis.
This is possibly related to the Old Saxon Idisi mentioned in the First Merseburg Charm.
The disablot is recorded twice in two Icelandic sagas from the middle of the 13th century CE.
In Viga-Glums saga 6 the disablot is celebrated at a Norwegian farm at the beginning of winter in mid-October. Egilssaga 44 also mentions a disablot at an autumnal festival in Norway.
Snorri Sturluson writing in the Ynglinga saga 33 identifies a similar feast at Uppsala in Sweden.
Literary sources indicate that the cult of the disir was more common in Sweden than in West Nordic regions.

First Merseburg Charm

Once the Idisi set forth, to this place and that;
Some fastened fetters; some hindered the horde,
Some loosed the bonds from the brave
Leap forth from the fetters! Escape from the foes!

Homer in the Baltic

2008-12-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

HOMER IN THE BALTIC
Dr. Felice Vinci
Summary
The real scene of the Iliad and the Odyssey can be identified not in the Mediterranean Sea, where it proves to be weakened by many incongruities, but in the north of Europe. The sagas that gave rise to the two poems came from the Baltic regions, where the Bronze Age flourished in the 2nd millennium B.C. and many Homeric places, such as Troy and Ithaca, can still be identified. The blond seafarers who founded the Mycenaean civilization in the 16th century B.C. brought these tales from Scandinavia to Greece after the decline of the "climatic optimum". Then they rebuilt their original world, where the Trojan War and many other mythological events had taken place, in the Mediterranean; through many generations the memory of the heroic age and the feats performed by their ancestors in their lost homeland was preserved, and handed down to the following ages. This key allows us to easily open many doors that have been shut tight until now, as well as to consider the age-old question of the Indo-European Diaspora and the origin of the Greek civilization from a new perspective.
* * *
Ever since ancient times, Homeric geography has given rise to problems and uncertainty. The conformity of towns, countries and islands, which the poet often describes with a wealth of detail, with traditional Mediterranean places is usually only partial or even nonexistent. We find various cases in Strabo (the Greek geographer and historian, 63 B.C. – 23 A.D.), who, for example, does not understand why the island of Pharos, situated right in front of the port of Alexandria, in the Odyssey inexplicably appears to lie a day’s sail from Egypt. There is also the question of the location of Ithaca, which, according to very precise indications found in the Odyssey, is the westernmost in an archipelago which includes three main islands, Dulichium, Same and Zacynthus. This does not correspond to the geographic reality of the Greek Ithaca in the Ionian Sea, located north of Zacynthus, east of Cephallenia and south of Leucas. And then, what of the Peloponnese, described in both poems as a plain?
In other words, Homeric geography refers to a context with a toponymy with which we are familiar, but which, if compared with the actual physical layout of the Greek world, reveals glaring anomalies, which are hard to explain, if only on account of their consistency throughout the two poems. For example, the "strange" Peloponnese appears to be a plain not sporadically but regularly, and Dulichium, the "Long Island" (in Greek "dolichos" means "long") located by Ithaca, is repeatedly mentioned not only in the Odyssey but also in the Iliad, but was never discovered in the Mediterranean. Thus we are confronted with a world which appears actually closed and inaccessible, apart from some occasional convergences, although the names are familiar (this, however, tends to be more misleading than otherwise in solving the problem).
A possible key to finally penetrating this puzzling world is provided by Plutarch (46 – 120 A.D.). In his work De facie quae in orbe lunae apparet ("The face that appears in the moon circle"), he makes a surprising statement: the island of Ogygia, (where Calypso held Ulysses before allowing him to return to Ithaca) is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, "five days’ sail from Britain".
Plutarch’s indications lead us to identify Ogygia with one of the Faroe Islands (where we also come across an island with a Greek-sounding name: Mykines), Starting from here, the route eastwards, which Ulysses follows (Book V of the Odyssey) in his voyage from Ogygia to Scheria allows us to locate the latter, i.e. the land of the Phaeacians, on the southern coast of Norway, in an area perfectly fitting the account of his arrival, where archaeological traces of the Bronze Age are plentiful. Moreover, while on the one hand "sker" in Old Norse means a "sea rock", on the other in the narration of Ulysses’s landing Homer introduces the reversal of the river current (Od. V, 451-453), which is unknown in the Mediterranean world but is typical of the Atlantic estuaries during high tide.
From here the Phaeacians took Ulysses to Ithaca, located on the far side of an archipelago, which Homer talks about in great detail. At this point, a series of precise parallels makes it possible to identify a group of Danish islands, in the south of the Baltic Sea, which correspond exactly to all of Homer’s indications. Actually, the South-Fyn Archipelago includes three main islands: Langeland (the "Long Island"; which finally unveils the puzzle of the mysterious island of Dulichium), Aerø (which corresponds perfectly to Homeric Same) and Tåsinge (ancient Zacynthus). The last island in the archipelago, located westwards, "facing the night", is Ulysses’s Ithaca, now known as Lyø. It is astonishing how closely it coincides with the directions of the poet, not only in its position, but also its topographical and morphological features. And here, amongst this group of islands, we can also identify the little island "in the strait between Ithaca and Same", where Penelope’s suitors tried to waylay Telemachus.
Moreover, the Elis, i.e. one of the regions of the Peloponnese, is described as facing Dulichium, thus is easily identifiable with a part of the large Danish island of Zealand. Therefore, the latter is the original "Peloponnese", i.e. the "Island of Pelops", in the real meaning of the word "island" ("nêsos" in Greek). On the other hand, the Greek Peloponnese (which lies in a similar position in the Aegean Sea, i.e. on its southwestern side) is not an island, despite its name. Furthermore, the details reported in the Odyssey regarding both Telemachus’s swift journey by chariot from Pylos to Lacedaemon, along "a wheat-producing plain", and the war between Pylians and Epeans, as narrated in Book XI of the Iliad, have always been considered inconsistent with Greece’s uneven geography, while they fit in perfectly with the flat island of Zealand.
Let us look for the region of Troy now. In the Iliad it is located along the Hellespont Sea, which is systematically described as being "wide" or even "boundless". We can, therefore, exclude the fact that it refers to the Strait of the Dardanelles, where the city found by Schliemann lies. The identification of this city with Homer’s Troy still raises strong doubts: we only have to think of Finley’s criticism in the World of Odysseus. It is also remarkable that Schliemann’s site corresponds to the location of the Greek-Roman Troy; however, Strabo categorically denies that the latter is identifiable with the Homeric city (Geography 13, 1, 27). On the other hand, the Danish Medieval historian Saxo Grammaticus, in his Gesta Danorum, often mentions a population known as "Hellespontians" and a region called Hellespont, which, strangely enough, seems to be located in the east of the Baltic Sea. Could it be Homer’s Hellespont? We can identify it with the Gulf of Finland, which is the geographic counterpart of the Dardanelles (as both of them lie northeast of their respective basins). Since Troy, as we can infer from a passage in the Iliad (XXI, 334-335), lay northeast of the sea (further reason to dispute Schliemann’s location), then it seems reasonable, for the purpose of this research, to look at a region of southern Finland, where the Gulf of Finland joins the Baltic Sea. In this area, west of Helsinki, we find a number of name-places which astonishingly resemble those mentioned in the Iliad and, in particular, those given to the allies of the Trojans: Askainen (Ascanius), Karjaa (Caria), Nästi (Nastes, the chief of the Carians), Lyökki (Lycia), Tenala (Tenedos), Kiila (Cilla), Raisio (Rhesus), Kiikoinen (the Ciconians) etc. There is also a Padva, which reminds us of Italian Padua, which was founded, according to tradition, by the Trojan Antenor and lies in Venetia (the "Eneti" or "Veneti" were allies of the Trojans). What is more, the place-names Tanttala and Sipilä (the mythical King Tantalus, famous for his torment, was buried on Mount Sipylus) indicate that this matter is not only limited to Homeric geography, but seems to extend to the whole world of Greek mythology.
What about Troy? Right in the middle of this area, halfway between Helsinki and Turku, we discover that King Priam’s city has survived the Achaean sack and fire. Its characteristics correspond exactly to those Homer handed down to us: the hilly area which dominates the valley with its two rivers, the plain which slopes down towards the coast, and the highlands in the background. It has even maintained its own name almost unchanged throughout all this time. Today, "Toija" is a peaceful Finnish village, unaware of its glorious and tragic past.
Various trips to these places, from July 11 1992 onwards, have confirmed the extraordinary correspondence between the Iliad’s descriptions and the area surrounding Toija. What is more, there we come across many significant traces of the Bronze Age. Incredibly, towards the sea we find a place called Aijala, which recalls the "beach" ("aigialos"), where, according to Homer, the Achaeans beached their ships (Il. XIV, 34). The correspondence extends to the neighbouring areas. For example, along the Swedish coast facing Southern Finland, 70 km north of Stockholm, the long and relatively narrow Bay of Norrtälje recalls Homeric Aulis, whence the Achaean fleet set sail for Troy. Nowadays, ferries leave here for Finland, following the same ancient course. They pass the island of Lemland, whose name reminds us of ancient Lemnos, where the Achaeans stopped and abandoned the hero Philoctetes. Nearby is Åland, the largest island of the homonymous archipelago, which probably coincides with Samothrace, the mythical site of the metalworking mysteries. The adjacent Gulf of Bothnia is easily identifiable with Homer’s Thracian Sea, and the ancient Thrace, which the poet places to the northwest of Troy on the opposite side of the sea, probably lay along the northern Swedish coast and its hinterland (it is remarkable that the Younger Edda identifies the home of the god Thor with Thrace). Further south, outside the Gulf of Finland, the island of Hiiumaa, situated opposite the Esthonian coast, corresponds exactly to Homer’s Chios, which, according to the Odyssey, lay on the return course of the Achaean fleet after the war.
In short, apart from the morphological features of this area, the geographic position of the Finnish Troas fits Homer’s directions like a glove. Actually, this explains why a "thick fog" often fell on those fighting on the Trojan plain, and Ulysses’s sea is never as bright as that of the Greek islands, but always "dark-wine" and "misty". As we travel through Homer’s world, we experience the harsh weather which is typical of the Northern world. Everywhere in the two poems the weather, with its fog, wind, rain, cold temperatures and snow (which falls on the plains and even out to sea), has little in common with the Mediterranean climate; moreover, sun and warm temperatures are hardly ever mentioned. There are countless examples of this; for instance, when Ulysses recalls an episode of the Trojan War: "The night was bad, after the north wind dropped,/ and freezing; then the snow began to fall like icy frost/ and ice congealed on our shields" (Od. XIV, 475-477). In a word, most of the time the weather is unsettled, so much so that a bronze-clad fighting warrior invokes a cloudless sky during the battle (Il. XVII, 643-646). We are worlds away from the torrid Anatolian lowlands. The way in which Homer’s characters are dressed is in perfect keeping with this kind of climate. In the sailing season they wear tunics and heavy cloaks which they never remove, not even during banquets. This attire corresponds exactly to the remains of clothing found in Bronze Age Danish graves, down to such details as the metal brooch which pinned the cloak at the shoulder (Od. XIX, 226). Moreover, this fits in perfectly with what Tacitus states on Germanic clothing: "The suit for everyone is a cape with a buckle" ("sagum fibula consertum"; Germania, 17, 1).
This northern collocation also explains the huge anomaly of the great battle which takes up the central books of the Iliad. The battle continues for two days (Il. XI, 86; XVI, 777) and one night (Il. XVI, 567). The fact that the darkness does not put a stop to the fighting is incomprehensible in the Mediterranean world, but it becomes clear in the Baltic setting. What allows Patroclus’s fresh troops to carry on fighting through to the following day, without a break, is the faint night light, which is typical of high latitudes during the summer solstice. This interpretation – corroborated by the overflowing of the Scamander during the following battle (in the northern regions this occurs in May or June owing to the thaw) – allows us to reconstruct the stages of the whole battle in a coherent manner, dispelling the present-day perplexities and strained interpretations. Furthermore, we even manage to pick out from a passage in the Iliad (VII, 433) the Greek word used to denominate the faintly-lit nights typical of the regions located near the Arctic Circle: the "amphilyke nyx" is a real "linguistic fossil" which, thanks to the Homeric epos, has survived the migration of the Achaeans to Southern Europe.
It is also important to note that the Trojan walls, as described by Homer, appear as a sort of rustic fence made of wood and stone, similar to the archaic Northern wooden enclosures (such as the Kremlin Walls up to the 15th century) much more than the mighty strongholds of the Aegean civilizations.
Troy, therefore, was not deserted after the Achaeans plundered and burnt it down, but was rebuilt, as the Iliad states: "At this point Zeus has come to hate Priam’s stock,/ so Aeneas’s power will rule the Trojans now/ and then his children’s children and those who will come later on" (Il. XX, 306-308). On the contrary, Virgil’s quite tendentious, and much more recent, tale of Aeneas’s flight by sea from the burning city of Troy (a homage paid to the emperor Augustus’s family, considered Aeneas’s descendant) is absolutely unrelated to the real destiny of the Trojan hero and his city after the war. As regards this "Finnish" Aeneas, the first king of the dynasty that, according with Homer, ruled Troy after the war (that is a kingdom which, under Priam, dominated a vast area in southern Finland; Il. XXIV, 544-546) it should be very tempting to suppose a relationship between his name and "Aeningia", Finland’s name in Roman times (Pliny, Natural History, IV, 96).
It is remarkable that farmers often come across Bronze and Stone Age relics in the fields surrounding Toija. This is proof of human settlements in this territory many thousands of years ago. Further, in the area surrounding Salo (only 20 km from Toija), archaeologists have found splendid specimens of swords and spear points that date back to the Bronze Age and are now on display in the National Museum of Helsinki. These findings come from burial places, which include tumuli made of large mounds of stones that can be found at the top of certain hills, which rise from the plain today, but which, thousands of years ago, when the coastline was not as far back as it is nowadays, faced directly onto the sea. This relates to a passage in the Iliad, where Hector challenges an Achaean hero to a duel, undertaking, in case of victory, to give back the corpse of his opponent "so that the long-haired Achaeans can bury him/ and erect a mound for him on the broad Hellespont,/ and some day one of the men to come,/ sailing with a multioared ship on the wine-dark sea, will say:/ ’This is the mound of a man slain in ancient times,/ he excelled but renowned Hector killed him’" (Il. VII, 85-90; the description of Achilles’ tomb in the last canto of the Odyssey is analogous). These Homeric mounds "on the broad Hellespont" and the Bronze Age ones near Salo are remarkably similar. Moreover, Beowulf’s mound, which is described in the ancient English poem Beowulf (7th century AD), is very similar to Homer’s description (Beowulf, l. 2802-2808).
Let us now examine the so-called Catalogue of Ships from Book II of the Iliad, that lists the twenty-nine Achaean fleets which took part in the Trojan War, together with the names of their captains and places of origin. This list unwinds in an anticlockwise direction, starting from Central Sweden, travelling along the Baltic coasts and finishing in Finland. If we combine this with the data contained in the two poems and in the rest of Greek mythology, we may completely reconstruct the Achaean world around the Baltic Sea, where, as archaeology confirms, the Bronze Age was flourishing in the 2nd millennium B.C., favoured by a warmer climate than today’s.
In this new geographical context, the entire universe belonging to Homer and Greek mythology finally discloses itself with its astonishing consistency. For example, by following the Catalogue sequence, we immediately locate Boeotia (corresponding to the area around Stockholm). Here it is easy to identify Oedipus’s Thebes and the mythical Mount Nysa (which was never found in the Greek world), where the Hyads nursed baby Dionysus. Homer’s Euboea coincides with today’s island of Öland, located off the Swedish coast in a similar position to that of its Mediterranean counterpart. Mythical Athens, Theseus’s native land, lay in the area of present day Karlskrona in southern Sweden (this explains why Plato, in his dialogue Critias, refers to it as being an undulating plain full of rivers, which is totally alien to Greece’s rough morphology). The features of other Achaean cities, such as Mycenae or Calydon, as described by Homer also appear completely different from those of their namesakes on Greek soil. In particular, Mycenae lay in the site of today’s Copenhagen, where the island of Amager possibly recalls its ancient name and explains why it was in the plural. Here, in the flat island of Zealand (i.e. the Homeric "Peloponnese"), we can easily identify Agamemnon’s and Menelaus’s kingdoms, Arcadia, the River Alpheus, and in particular, king Nestor’s Pylos, whose location was held to be a mystery even by the ancient Greeks. By setting Homer’s poems in the Baltic, this age-old puzzle is also solved at once. What is more, it is equally easy to solve the problem of the strange border between Argolis and Pylos, which is mentioned in the Iliad (IX, 153) but is "impossible" in the Greek world.
After the Peloponnese, the Catalogue mentions Dulichium and continues with Ithaca’s archipelago, which was already identified by making use of the indications the Odyssey supplies. We are thus able to verify the consistency of the information contained in the two poems as well as their congruity with the Baltic geography. After Ithaca, the list continues with the Aetolians, who recall the ancient Jutes. They gave their name to Jutland, which actually lies near the South-Fyn Islands. Homer mentions Pylene in the Aetolian cities, which corresponds to today’s Plön, in Northern Germany, not far from Jutland. Opposite this region, in the North Sea, the name of Heligoland, one of the North Frisian Islands, recalls Helike, a sanctuary of the god Poseidon mentioned in the Iliad (it is remarkable that an old name for Heligoland was Fositesland, where "Fosite", an ancient Frisian god, is virtually identical to Poseidon).
As regards Crete, the "vast land" with "a hundred cities" and many rivers, which is never referred to as an island by Homer, it corresponds to the Pomeranian region in the southern Baltic area, which stretches from the German coast to the Polish same. This explains why in the rich pictorial productions of the Minoan civilization, which flourished in Aegean Crete, we find no hint of Greek mythology, and ships are so scantily represented. It would also be tempting to assume a relationship between the name "Polska" and the Pelasgians, the inhabitants of Homeric Crete. At this point, it is also easy to identify Naxos (where Theseus left Ariadne on his return journey from "Crete" to "Athens") with the island of Bornholm, situated between Poland and Sweden, where the town of Neksø still recalls the ancient name of the island. Likewise, we discover that the Odyssey’s "River Egypt" probably coincides with the present-day Vistula, thus revealing the real origin of the name the Greeks gave to Pharaohs’ land, known as "Kem" in the local language. This explains the incongruous position of the Homeric Egyptian Thebes, which, according to the Odyssey, is located near the sea. Evidently the Egyptian capital, which on the contrary lies hundreds of kilometres from the Nile delta and was originally known as Wò’se, was renamed by the Achaeans with the name of a Baltic city, after they moved down to the Mediterranean. The real Thebes probably was the present-day Tczew, on the Vistula delta. To the north of the latter, in the centre of the Baltic Sea, the island of Fårö recalls the Homeric Pharos, which according to the Odyssey lay in the middle of the sea at a day’s sail from "Egypt" (whereas Mediterranean Pharos is not even a mile’s distance from the port of Alexandria). Here is the solution to another puzzle of Homeric geography that so perturbed Strabo. It is also remarkable that a barbaric population lived near the mouth of the Vistula until the 3rd century A.D.: we are referring to the "Gepids", whose name recalls the name "Aigyptos". This corroborates the idea that the Homeric Egypt lay around the Vistula delta.
The Catalogue of Ships now touches the Baltic Republics. Hellas lay on the coast of present-day Esthonia, and thus next to the Homeric Hellespont (i.e. the "Helle Sea"), today’s Gulf of Finland. As to Phthia, Achilles’s homeland, it lay on the fertile hills of southeastern Esthonia, along the border with Latvia and Russia, stretching as far as the Russian river Velikaja and the lake of Pskov. Myrmidons and Phthians lived there, ruled by Achilles and Protesilaus (the first Achaean captain who fell in the Trojan War) respectively. In this area also lies Kurland – the Curians’ country, that is the mythical Curetes, linked with the worship of Zeus – where is found the figure of a supreme god, who is called Dievas in Lithuania and Dievs in Latvia; in local folklore he shows features typical of Hellenic Zeus (the genitive case of the name "Zeus" in Greek is "Diòs"; Il. I, 5). Moreover, Lithuanian has very archaic features and a notable affinity with the ancient Indo-European language.
Here we reach the region of Livonia, which is presently divided between Esthonia and Latvia. We could assume a relationship with Homeric Libya, which the Odyssey mentions in two episodes. One of these tells of a ship heading for Libya, which was sailing "in the open sea off Crete" (Od. XIV, 300). Although vague, this description fits Livonia’s position in relation to the Polish coast, i.e. "Baltic Crete". It probably refers to the shipping routes followed in the southern Baltic during the Early Bronze Age. The name of Livonia derives from an ancient Baltic people, which is almost extinct today. They are known as the Livonians, who are farmers and stockbreeders, attaching special importance to livestock. There newlyweds traditionally receive domestic animals as wedding presents; these animals also "play a leading role in funerals" (Treccani, see "Livi"). This all fits in very well with a passage where Homer describes Libya as a land of stockbreeders, where "flocks lamb three times in the course of a year./ Neither the owner or the shepherd ever lack/ cheese, meat or sweet milk,/ but sheep provide plentiful milk all the time" (Od. IV, 86-89). If today’s Livonians really were the descendants of the Homeric Libyans, then they would be an extraordinary example of cultural persistence over the course of 4000 years, from the Early Bronze Age to the modern era. The name of ancient Libya still echoes in the city of Liepãja (Western Latvia), which is called Libava in Russian and Libau in German.
Next, proceeding with the sequence, we reach the Finnish coast, facing the Gulf of Bothnia, where we find Jolkka, which reminds us of Iolcus, Jason’s mythical city. Further north, we are also able to identify the region of Olympus, Styx and Pieria in Finnish Lapland (which in turn recalls the Homeric Lapithae, i.e. the sworn enemies of the Centaurs who also lived in this area). This location of Pieria north of the Arctic Circle is confirmed by an apparent astronomical anomaly, linked to the moon cycle, which is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes: it can only be explained by the high latitude. The "Home of Hades" was even further northwards, on the icy coasts of Russian Karelia: here Ulysses arrived, his journeys representing the last vestige of prehistoric routes in an era which was characterised by a very different climate from today’s.
In conclusion, from this review of the Baltic world, we find its astonishing consistency with the Catalogue of Ships – which is, therefore, an extraordinary "photograph" of the Northern Early Bronze Age peoples – as well as with the whole of Greek mythology. It is very unlikely that this immense number of geographic, climatic, toponymical and morphological parallels is to be ascribed to mere chance, even leaving aside the glaring contradictions arising from the Mediterranean setting.
As regards Ulysses’ trips, after the Trojan War, when he is about to reach Ithaca, a storm takes him away from his world; so he has many adventures in fabulous localities until he reaches Ogygia, that is one of the Faroe Islands. These adventures, presumably taken from tales of ancient seamen and elaborated again by the poet's fantasy, represent the last memory of the sea routes followed by the ancient navigators of the Northern Bronze Age out of the Baltic, in the North Atlantic (where the "Ocean River" flows, i.e. the Gulf Stream), but they became unrecognizable because of their transposition into a totally different context. For example, the Eolian island, ruled by the "King of the winds", "son of the Knight", is one of the Shetlands (maybe Yell), where there are strong winds and ponies. Cyclops lived in the coast of Norway (near Tosenfjorden: the name of their mother is Toosa): they coincide with the Trolls of the Norwegian folklore. The land of Lestrigonians was in the same coast, towards the North; Homer says that there the days are very long (the famous scholar Robert Graves places the Lestrigonians in the North of Norway; moreover, in that area we find the island of Lamøj, which is probably the Homeric Lamos). The island of sorceress Circe – where there are clear hints at the midnight sun (Od. X, 190-192) and the revolving dawns (Od. XII, 3-4), typical phenomena of the Arctic regions – is one of the Lofoten, beyond the Arctic Circle. Charybdis is the well-known whirlpool named Maelstrom, south of the island of Moskenes (one of the Lofoten). South of Charybdis Odysseus meets the island Thrinakia, that means "trident": really, near the Maelstrom lies Mosken, a three-tip island. The Sirens are shoals and shallows, off the western face of the Lofoten, before the Maelstrom area, which are made even more dangerous by the fog and the size of the tides. The sailors could be attracted by the misleading noise of the backwash (the "Sirens’ Song" is a metaphor similar to Norse "kenningar") on the half-hidden rocks into deceiving themselves that landing is at hand, but if they get near, shipwreck on the reefs is inevitable.
Besides, we can find remarkable parallels between Greek and Norse mythology: for example, Ulysses is similar to Ull, archer and warrior of Norse mythology; the sea giant Aegaeon (who gave his name to the Aegean Sea) is the counterpart of the Norse sea god Aegir, and Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea (who is a mythical shepherd of seals, who lives in the sea depths and is capable of foretelling the future) is similar to the "marmendill" (mentioned by the Hàlfs Saga ok Hàlfsrekka and the Landnàmabòk), a very odd creature, who resembles a misshapen man with a seal-shaped body below the waist, and has the gift of prophecy but only talks when he feels like it, just like Proteus. On the other hand, there are remarkable analogies between the Achaean and Viking ships: by comparing the details of Homeric ships with the remains of Viking ships found in the bay of Roskilde, we realize that their features were very similar. We refer to the flat keel (one infers this from Od. XIII, 114), the double prow (we can deduce this from the expression "amphiélissai" Homer frequently uses with regard to their double curve, i.e. at the stern and the prow), and the removable mast – this is a sophisticated feature typical of Viking ships, which was typical of Homeric ships, too: many passages in both the Iliad (I, 434; I, 480) and the Odyssey (II, 424-425; VIII, 52) confirm without a shadow of doubt that the operations of setting up and taking down the mast were customary at the beginning and the end of each mission.
More generally speaking, apart from the respective mythologies, remarkable parallels are found between the customs of the Achaeans and those of the populations of Northern Europe, although they are separated by almost 3000 years. The systems of social relations, interests and lifestyles of the Homeric world and Viking society, despite the elapsed years, are surprisingly similar. For instance, the "agorà", the public assembly in the Homeric world, corresponds to the "thing" of the Vikings: this was the most important political moment in the running of the community for both peoples. In his turn, Tacitus informs us that at his time the northern populations held public assemblies (Germania, chap. 11), that appear to be very similar to the "thing" (therefore, to the "agorà", too). In a word, the parallels between the Homeric Achaeans, who lived during the Bronze Age, the Germans of the Roman period, and the Medieval Vikings testify to the continuity of the Northern world throughout the ages.
We should note that many Homeric peoples, as the Danaans, Pelasgians, Dorians, Curetes, Lybians and Lapithae, whose traces are not found in the Mediterranean, probably still exist in the Baltic world: they find their present counterparts in the Danes, Poles, Thuringians, Kurlandians, Livonians and Lapps (this identification is supported by their respective geographic locations). Moreover, both poems mention the Sintians, mythical inhabitants of Lemnos who were linked with the smith god Hephaestus (Il. I, 594; Od. VIII, 294): their name is exactly the same as today’s "Sintians", i.e. a tribe of Gypsies’, who traditionally are metalworkers and coppersmiths. We also note a possible relationship between the "Argives", another name for the Achaeans, "Argeioi" in Greek – i.e. (V)argeioi, considering the usual loss of the initial V (the "digamma") in the Homeric language – and the "Varangians" (Swedish Vikings). As regards the Homeric "Danaans" ("Dànaioi" in Greek, who were also Achaeans), at the beginning of the Gesta Danorum Saxo Grammaticus states that "Dudon, who wrote a story about Aquitania, believes that the Danes owe their origins and name to the Danaans" (I, I, 1). This comparison has hitherto been interpreted as a means of exalting the origin of the Danes, but now one could start to see them in a new light. If we still dwell upon the digamma, we should consider now the relationship between the Greek words "areté" (valour) and "àte" (fault or error) and their Latin counterparts "virtus" and ""vitium" respectively (apart from the initial V, the vowels A and I are often interchangeable: for example, "ambush" corresponds to the Italian "imboscata"). By applying the same alteration (i.e. A→VI) to the name of the "Achaeans" ("Achaioi" in Greek), we get the word "Vikings". In a word, the Argeioi, Danaioi and Achaioi, i.e. the three main names Homer gives the protagonists of his poems, possibly came down to modern times as the Varangians, Danes and Vikings (never found in the Mediterranean area, even in ancient times) respectively.
Here, therefore, is the "secret" which is hidden inside Homer’s poems and is responsible for all the oddities of Homeric geography: the Trojan War and the other events Greek mythology handed down were not set in the Mediterranean, but in the Baltic area, i.e. the primitive home of the blond, "long-haired" Achaeans (the Odyssey claims that Ulysses was fair-haired; XIII, 399; XIII, 431). On this subject, the distinguished Swedish scholar, Professor Martin P. Nilsson, in his works reports considerable archaeological evidence uncovered in the Mycenaean sites in Greece, corroborating their northern origin. Some examples are: the existence of a large quantity of baltic amber in the most ancient Mycenaean tombs in Greece (which is not to be ascribed to trade, because the amber is very scarce in the coeval Minoan tombs in Crete as well as in later graves on the continent); the typically Northern features of their architecture (the Mycenaean megaron is identical to the hall of the ancient Scandinavian Kings); the similarity of two stone slabs found in a tomb in Dendra with the menhirs known from the Bronze Age of Central Europe; the Northern-type skulls found in the necropolis of Kalkani, etc.. Moreover, Aegean art and Scandinavian remains dating back to the Bronze Age present a remarkable affinity – for example, the figures engraved on Kivik’s tomb in Sweden – so much so that a 19th century scholar suggested the monument was built by the Phoenicians.
Another sign of the Achaean presence in the Northern world in a very distant past is a Mycenaean graffito found in the megalithic complex of Stonehenge in Southern England. Other remains revealing the Mycenaean influence were found in the same area ("Wessex culture"), which date back to a period preceding the Mycenaean civilization in Greece. A trace of contact is found in the Odyssey, which mentions a market for bronze placed overseas, in a foreign country, named "Temese", never found in the Mediterranean area. Since bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, which in the North is only found in Cornwall, it is very likely that the mysterious Temese corresponds to the Thames, named "Tamesis" or "Tamensim" in ancient times. So, following Homer, we learn that, during the Bronze Age, the ancient Scandinavians used to sail to Temese-Thames, "placed overseas in a foreign country", to supply themselves with bronze.
This theory – which has already undergone a positive check by means of inspections carried out on the territories concerned, and meets Popper’s requirement on "falsifiability" – solves many other problems, such as the backwardness of the Homeric civilization compared to the Mycenaeans’; the absence of reference to seafaring and Greek mythology in the Minoan-Cretan world; the inconsistencies between the morphology of several Homeric cities, such as Mycenae and Calydon, and their Greek namesakes; the absurdities concerning the regions of the Peloponnese, and the distance of the allies of the Trojans from the Dardanelles area, and so on. We should also note that oxen are of the utmost importance in the Homeric world: this is the yet further evidence that we are not dealing with a Greek setting, undoubtedly more suitable for goats than oxen, but with a Northern one. Moreover, in a Greek environment one would expect a surfeit of pottery, but this is not the case: in both poems tableware is made solely of metal or wood, while pottery is absent. The poet talks of metal vases, usually of gold or silver. For example, in Ulysses’s palace in Ithaca, "a maid came to pour water from a beautiful/ golden jug into a silver basin" (Od. I, 136-137). People poured wine "into gold goblets" (Od. III, 472) and "gold glasses" (Od. I, 142). Lamps (Od. XIX, 34), cruets (Od. VI, 79) and urns, like the one (Il. XXIII, 253) containing Patroclus’s bones, were made of gold. The vessels used for pouring wine were also of metal: when one of them fell to the ground, instead of breaking, it "boomed" (Od. XVIII, 397). In a word, on the one hand, the Homeric poems do not mention any ceramic pottery, which is typical of the Mediterranean world, but, on the other, they are strikingly congruent with the Northern world, where scholars find a stable and highly advanced bronze founding industry, compared to the pottery one, which was far more modest. As to the poor, they used wooden jugs (Od. IX, 346; XVI, 52), i.e. the cheapest and most natural form of vessel, considering the abundance of this material in the North: Esthonia and Latvia have a very ancient tradition of wooden beer tankards.
Therefore, it was along the Baltic coast that Homer’s events took place, before the Mycenaean migration southwards, in the 16th century B.C.. This period is close to the end of an exceptionally hot climate that had lasted several thousands of years, the "post-glacial climatic optimum". It corresponds to the Atlantic phase of the Holocene, when temperatures in northern Europe were much higher than today (at that time the broad-leaved forests reached the Arctic Circle and the tundra disappeared even from the northernmost areas of Europe). The "climatic optimum" reached its peak around 2500 B.C. and began to drop around 2000 B.C. ("Sub-Boreal phase"), until it came to an end some centuries later. It is highly likely that this was the cause that obliged the Achaeans to move down to the Mediterranean for this reason. They probably followed the Dnieper river down to the Black Sea, as the Vikings (whose culture is, in many ways, quite similar) did many centuries later. The Mycenaean civilisation, which did not originate in Greece, was thus born and went on to flourish from the 16th century B.C., soon after the change in North European climate.
The migrants took their epos and geography along with them and attributed the same names they had left behind in their lost homeland to the various places where they eventually settled. This heritage was immortalized by the Homeric poems and Greek mythology (the latter lost the memory of the great migration from the North probably after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, around the 12th century B.C., but kept a vague memory of its "hyperborean" links). Moreover, they renamed with Baltic names not only the new countries where they settled, but also other Mediterranean regions, such as Libya, Crete and Egypt, thus creating an enormous "geographical misunderstanding" which has lasted until now. The above-mentioned transpositions of Northern place-names were certainly encouraged, if not suggested, by a certain similarity (which the Mycenaeans realized owing to their inclination for seafaring) between Baltic geography and that of the Aegean: we only have to think of the analogy Öland-Euboea or Zealand-Peloponnese (where they were obliged to force the concept of island in order to maintain the original layout). The increasing presence of Greek-speaking populations in the Mediterranean basin, with their cultural and trade supremacy, later consolidated this phenomenon, from the time of Mycenaean civilization to the Hellenistic-Roman period.
In short, besides the geographic correspondences, in favour of this theory there is the remarkable temporal concurrence between the end of the "climatic optimum" in northern Europe and the settling of the Mycenaeans in the Aegean area. We should also note that a catastrophic event happened at that time: we refer to the eruption of the volcano of Thera (Santorini), around the year 1630 B.C., which presumably extinguished the Minoan civilization in Crete and certainly had severe climatic consequences worldwide (traces of it were found even in the annual rings of very ancient American trees), giving rise to atmospheric phenomena which must have terrorized the Bronze Age civilizations in Northern Europe. If we consider that the "optimum" had begun to decline some centuries before, this event probably started, or quickened, the final collapse.
This is the same age as the arising of Aryan, Hyksos, Hittite and Cassite settlements in India, Egypt, Anatolia and Mesopotamia respectively. In a word, the end of the " climatic optimum" can explain the cause of the contemporary migrations of other Indo-European populations (following a recent research carried on by Prof. Jahanshah Derakhshani of Teheran University, the Hyksos very likely belong to the Indo-European family). The original homeland of the Indo-Europeans was probably located in the furthest north of Europe, when the climate was much warmer than today’s. However, on the one hand G.B. Tilak in The Arctic home of the Vedas claims the Arctic origin of the Aryans, "cousins" of the Achaeans, on the other both Iranian and Norse mythology remember that the original homeland was destroyed by cold and ice. It is also remarkable that, following Tilak (The Orion), the original Aryan civilization flourished in the "Orionic period", when the constellation of Orion marked the spring equinox. It happened in the period from 4000 up to 2500 B.C., corresponding to the peak of the "climatic optimum". We also note the presence of a population known as the Tocharians in the Tarim Basin (northwest China) from the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C. They spoke an Indo-European language and were tall, blond with Caucasian features. This dating provides us with yet another confirmation of the close relationship between the decline of the "climatic optimum" and the Indo-European diaspora from Scandinavia and other Northern regions. In this picture, it is amazing that the Bronze Age starts in China just between the 18th and the 16th centuries B.C. (Shang dynasty). We should note that the Chinese pictograph indicating the king is called "wang", which is very similar to the Homeric term "anax", i.e. "the king" (corresponding to "wanax" in Mycenaean Linear B tablets). On the other hand, the terms "Yin" and "Yang" (which express two complementary principles of Chinese philosophy: Yin is feminine, Yang masculine) could be compared with the Greek roots "gyn-" and "andr-" respectively, which also refer to the "woman" and the "man" ("anér edé gyné", "man and woman", Od. VI, 184). Moreover, it is no accident that in this period the Steppe peoples – the Scythians, as the Greeks used to call them – who were blond or red-haired, flourished in the area where the Volga and the Dnieper run, the rivers that played such an important role as trade and transit routes between north and south. A passage from Herodotus about the origin of the Scythians corroborates this picture: "They say that 1000 years elapsed from their origin and their first king Targitaos to Darius’s expedition against them" (History, IV, 7). As this expedition dates back to 514 B.C., their origin would thus date back to the 16th century B.C., i.e. the epoch of the Mycenaean migration. One could venture to include in this picture the Olmecs also. They seem to have reached the southern Gulf Coast of Mexico in about the same period; thus, one could infer that they were a population who had formerly lived in the extreme north of the Americas (being connected to the Indo-European civilization through the Arctic Ocean, which was not frozen at that time), and then moved to the South when the climate collapsed (this, of course, could help to explain certain similarities with the Old World, apart from other possible contacts).
Returning to Homer, this reconstruction not only explains the extraordinary consistency between the Baltic-Scandinavian context and Homer’s world (compared to all the contradictions, over which the ancient Greek scholars racked their brains in vain, arising when one tries to place the Homeric geography in the Mediterranean), but also clarifies why the latter was decidedly more archaic than the Mycenaean civilization. Evidently, the contact with the refined Mediterranean and Eastern cultures favoured its rapid evolution, also considering their marked inclination for trade and seafaring which pervades not only the Homeric poems, but also all Greek mythology. Furthermore, this thesis fits in very well with the strong seafaring characterisation of the Mycenaeans. As a matter of fact, archaeologists confirm that the latter had been intensely practicing seafaring from their settling in Greece (their trade stations are found in many Mediterranean shores). Therefore, they had inherited a tradition dating back to a long time before, which implies that their original land lay near the sea. Further, the northern features of their architecture and their own physical traits fit in perfectly with the parallels between Homeric and Norse myths, which not only possess extremely archaic features, but also are of an undeniably seafaring nature. This is hard to explain with the current hypotheses about the continental origin of the Indo-Europeans, whereas the remains found in England fit in very well with the idea of a previous coastal homeland (by associating this with the typically northern features of their architecture we remove any doubt as to their place of origin).
Many signs prove the antiquity of the two poems and their temporal incongruity with Greek culture (this also explains why any reliable information regarding the author, or authors, of the poems had been lost before classical times), showing that they in fact belong to a "barbaric" European civilization, very far from the Aegean, as has been noticed by authoritative scholars, such as Prof. Stuart Piggott in his Ancient Europe. Moreover, Radiocarbon dating, corrected with dendrochronology (i.e. tree-ring calibration) has recently questioned the dogma of the Eastern origin of European civilization. Prof. Colin Renfrew describes the consequences for traditional chronology: "These changes bring with them a whole series of alarming reversals in chronological relationships. The megalithic tombs of western Europe now become older than the Pyramids or the round tombs of Crete, their supposed predecessors. The early metal-using cultures of the Balkans antedate Troy and the early bronze age Aegean, from which they were supposedly derived. And in Britain, the final structure of Stonehenge, once thought to be the inspiration of Mycenaean architectural expertise, was complete well before the Mycenaean civilization began" (Before civilization, the radiocarbon revolution and prehistoric Europe, chap. 4, "The Tree-ring Calibration of Radiocarbon"). Consequently, Prof. Renfrew goes so far as to say: "The whole carefully constructed edifice comes crashing down, and the story-line of the standard textbooks must be discarded" (Before civilization, chap. 5, "The Collapse of the Traditional Framework").
To conclude, this key could allow us to easily open many doors that have been shut tight until now, as well as to consider the age-old question of the Indo-European diaspora from a new perspective.

Felice Vinci, Omero nel Baltico ("Homer in the Baltic"), with introduction by R. Calzecchi Onesti and F. Cuomo. Publisher: Fratelli Palombi Editori, 2nd edition 1998, Rome. ISBN: 88-7621-211-6 (an English translation is available).
Dr. Felice Vinci

Reincarnation-a Celto-Germanic Perspective

2008-10-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

How did our Germanic and Celtic ancestors view reincarnation? Is this simply a view confined to the Aryan Hindus or can we find traces of such a concept nearer to home?
I believe we can.
Edred Thorsson[Dr Stephen Flowers] writing in his The Book of Ogham makes the observation;
`It is often said that the ancient Celts believed in "reincarnation". This is not true if by "reincarnation" it is meant that the psyche-including personal memories-was thought to be transferred from a dead person to the unborn in an arbitrary fashion. The idea that a Celtic chieftain could be `reborn` as a Roman soldier or an Indian potter would have been unthinkable. But they-along with all their fellow Indo-Europeans-did hold that the essential powers and abilities of the dead were almost genetically passed on to their descendants and relatives within the tribe or clan. This genetic chain reaches all the way back to the Gods and Goddesses themselves. The descendants are the ancestors reborn. As the ancient Celts were not as alienated from the reality of their bodies as modern people often are, the idea that the descent of the body from one form to another was paralleled by a spiritual descent was only natural-and so it will be again.
Classical authors mentioned a belief in immortality held by the Celts. The Greek ethnographer Poseidonus was probably the original source for most of these early references. He equated the Celtic doctrine with that of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Julius Caesar probably used Poseidonios as his source when he wrote:

A lesson which they[the druids] take particular pains to inculcate is that the soul does not perish, but after death passes from one body to another; they think this is the best incentive to bravery, because it teaches men to disregard the terrors of death.
[De bellico Gallico VI, 14]`

In Listian teaching Germanic time was not a simple matter of past, present and future. Our ancestors did not think in such simplistic terms and linear time was not an Aryo-Germanic concept. Today many of us are used to thinking in linear time but this is no doubt a left-over from our unfortunate enforced xtianisation. As anyone who has studied the bible will be aware the semites in general and the jews in particular do think in linear time and frame their prophecies in this way.In contrast according to the most ancient sacred texts of the Aryan peoples Aryan man conceived of time as being a progression of cycles, not in the sense of going round in a circle for things and events to repeat themselves incessantly but as a series of cycles moving forward like the waves on the ocean, moving forward rather than round and round. According to the works and teaching of Guido von List man repeatedly incarnates. There is nothing new in this doctrine for this was a well known teaching in the ancient Aryan world both in the East and the West but what makes his teaching slightly different is his use of cyclical time within this concept, ie Entstehen>Werden/Wandelns>Vergehehen zum NeuerstehenArising>Becoming/Change> Passing Away to New Arising.

This formula can be applied to not only humanity but the entire organic world. All creatures, all things animate and inanimate go through this tripartite process. One can see this reflected in the three Norns: Urd Verdandi SkuldUrd=Became, Verdandi=Becoming, Skuld=Blame[result of Karma or to use the Listian term, Garma]. Germanic time is not to be viewed as static but a process of becoming. Significantly the German verb werden is used-to become rather than sein-to be. Life is dynamic and the only constant is change. The whole process of Entstehen>Werden/Wandeln>Vergehen zum Neuerstehen through countless incarnations represents a single day of Brahma.The German verb werden[to become] is used rathen than sein[to be] because it conveys the feeling of continuing change and evolution. This continuing change, development and evolution is to be strived for in a progressive sense. Our aim in essence is to rediscover the" lost master word": "Dieser Name wird als das `verlorene Meisterwort`, der `verlorene Name` in den Mysterien bezeichnet, das der Meister suchen soll, denn dieser Name gaebe ihm alle Macht und Kraft der Gottheit selbst." "This name is described as the `lost masterword`, the `lost name` in the mysteries, that the master should seek, because this name would give him all power and strength of godhood itself."In other words we are to rediscover the key to our own divinity, to realise the god within, that we are god-in the making or becoming.The tripartite formula generally is to be discovered in many aspects of the pre-xtian Indo-European world, in the caste systems of the Indo-Europeans and even in the ancient triune respresentation of deity which undoubtedly was plagiarised by the xtian church.This tripartition is expressed by von List as dreieinig-dreispaeltige Dreiheit or the trifidic-triune triad as translated by Dr Stephen Flowers[Edred Thorsson] in The Secret of the Runes[Das Geheimnis der Runen].In Die Religion der Ario-Germanen in Ihrer Esoterik und Exoterik Guido von List explains that we are in effect our own ancestors and our own descendants being reincarnated continually within the same race, nation, tribe and clan."Darum errichteten sie Familien und Familiengueter, da sie wussten, dass sie ihre eigenen Nachkommen sein werden......""That`s why they established families and family goods, because they knew, that they will become their own descendants........"

So we are in fact our own ancestors[direct and indirect] and descendants[direct and indirect] so we must consider ourselves to be merely the bodily carriers of our genetic inheritance and guard our genes well.

Runes and Ogham

2008-10-11T02:07:00.000-07:00

Edred Thorsson[Dr Stephen Flowers] in his The Book of Ogham speculates on the relationship between Germanic runes and Celtic ogham.
The Germanic and Celtic peoples have interacted closely for thousands of years, sharing the same living space or borders in both the British Isles and continental Europe. Even in far flung Iceland genetic testing has revealed that modern day Icelanders are a Celto-Germanic mix with a significant amount of Celtic DNA[estimated at about 20%] in their gene pool.
One sees a similar fusion in parts of the British Isles and southern Germany where majority Germanic populations have pockets of admixture in their border lands.
In the case of Iceland which was populated by Norwegians fleeing religious persecutions by christians, and Viking settlers from Ireland with Irish wives much of this Celtic ancestry is demonstrated in MtDNA which is transmitted only by females but both males and females possess it.
If there was such ethnic interaction then we should assume that cultural and religious interaction also occurred. However it is difficult to determine how much of the shared cultural and religious heritage is due to interaction or is due to our shared Aryan past.
Both Celtic and Germanic belong to the centum isogloss of Indo-European languages.
Whilst one may speak of a shared Indo-European/Indo-Germanic/Aryan distant past it is in my opinion also legitimimate to assume that after the Celts and Teutons split from their parent Aryan grouping that they shared a common livingspace and culture prior to differentation and seperation into Celtic and Germanic. I refer to this shared past Celto-Germanic.
One aspect is our magical writing systems, the runes and ogham. There is a clear similarity in their use, method, purpose and alleged origins.
The runes were discovered[not invented or created] by the Germanic god Woden/Wotan/Odin who received them at the culmination of a shamanistic experience when he hung upside down for nine days and nine nights on the world tree as an offering to Himself.
By comparison the Celtic warrior god Ogma[Gaulic god Ogmios] is the inventor of ogham according to Celtic lore[Book of Ballymote]. Odin shares this warrior charecteristic but like other gods that are comparable to him from Celtic myth[Lugh/Llew] he is also a god of magic and poetry.
In particular Odin/Wotan/Woden and Lugh/Llew share the following characteristics-
1. They are chief gods.
2. They are war-leaders.
3. Both played leading roles in the ancient battle between different races of gods[Aesir against the Vanir and the battle of Mag Tured].
4. Both gods have spears as their main weapon.
5. Both are practitioners of magic.
6. Both have use of either a single eye[Odin/Wotan/Woden] or a single eye magical technique[Lugh/Llew].
7. Both are masters of poetry.
8. Both have a connection with ravens.
9. Both are the sires of heroes[Sigurd and CuChulainn].

The Druids learned their craft over a period of about twenty years and did not permit their sacred and esoteric learning to be written down. Ancient historians tell us that when they did use letters it was the Greek script that they used for profane writing.
The alphabetical system used for the creation of the ogham system was not Celtic but was adapted for use in writing Celtic as the H and Z characters are never found in ogham inscriptions in Celtic.
Thorsson speculates that the alphabet which underlies the ogham system is Chalcidic Greek which was in use in northern Italy in the last centuries BCE.
As the Druids had to commit their learning to memory they required a memory aid to do this and ogham which is a system of classification could have been used to assist this process.
Both runes and ogham were used for magical and profane purposes and were inscribed on hard surfaces such as stone, wood and bone. Both systems have a very distinct cosmology and represent sounds, names and ideas.
Whilst the Celts never used runes and the Teutons never used ogham there is a striking example of both being inscribed on the same stone cross from Killaloe in County Clare, Ireland. The inscriptions probably date back to the late 12th or early 13th centuries CE.
The runic inscription reads thurgrimsta/krusthina["Thorgrimr carved this cross"]
The ogham inscription reads BENDACHT AR TOROQRIM["a blessing on Thorgrim"]

Another similarity between runes and ogham is the fact that whilst ogham is a system that is based on trees with its individual fews[staves] named after various trees the runes have also correspondences with trees, and runic codes which dates back to the middle ages use a similiar system of encoding. This issue will be explored in more depth later on my Armanen blog along with individual runic and ogham correspondences.

Whilst runic and ogham are to be seen as seperate and distinct sacred and magical writing systems it is quite possible that both derive from a much older system that was common to the Aryan peoples before their seperation and migrations. Again this issue with be explored in more depth on my Aryan Myth and Metahistory blog.

I will leave you with this quote from Thorsson`s book:

"For those who for whatever reason wish to resist the idea that the Celtic mythology and religion[as well as culture] is essentially based on Indo-European roots, it might be noted that the first element in the names Ire-land and Ira-n are the same linguistically, and both are related to the Arya-ns of India."

Gungnir, the Spear of Odin

2008-10-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

"The spear which, in the days of Tacitus, and much later, was the chief weapon both for foot-soldiers and cavalry in the Teutonic armies, is wielded by the Asa-father himself, whose Gungner was forged for him by Ivalde`s sons before the dreadful enmity between the gods and them had begun."
[Viktor Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology]

However Wagner presented a different explanation for the origins of Gungnir:

"A dauntless god
Drew for drink to its gleam,
Where he left in endless
Payment the light of an eye,
From the world ash
Ere Wotan went he broke a bough;
For a spear the staff
He split with strength from the stem."

[Dusk of the Gods, Wagner-Forman`s translation]

The spear of Odin, Gungnir was the sacred weapon on which oaths were sworn and treaties were agreed.
By the use of Gungnir Odin pierced his side when he offered himself to himself on the world tree.
[Ynglinga saga 9]

"In his hand Odin generally carried the infallible spear Gungnir, which was so sacred that an oath sworn upon its point could never be broken....."
[The Norsemen, H.A. Guerber]

According to Sigdrifumal 17 there are runes carved into the point of the spear Gungnir and runic inscriptions have been found on spears excavated during archaeological finds. Bronze Age rock carvings also depict a spear-god which has been identified as Odin by the presence of his eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

"When he had fully mastered this knowledge, Odin cut magic runes upon his spear Gungnir, upon the teeth of his horse Sleipnir.........."
[A.H. Guerber]

The `knowledge` referred to is the knowledge of the runes.

In the Poetic Edda in the Lay of Sigrdrifa[Sigrdrifumal] verse 17 the valkyrie Sigrdrifa on giving advice to Sigurd on the use of the runes says they can be cut "on the point of Gungnir and the breast of Grani, on the nail of the norn, and the beak of the owl."

Rudolf Simek comments in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology "However it is not very likely that the `rise` of the spear god Odin and a `fall` of of the older sword god Tyr reflect an actual change in the form of battle from the sword to the spear[Schwietering]; perhaps the spear is significant as the symbol of lordship which was as relevant for the god of justice Tyr as well as for Odin in his function of lord."

In the beginning when war broke out between the two pantheons of Germanic gods, the Aesir and the Vanir, Odin threw his spear over the heads of the assembled Vanir. It does not specifically state in the Poetic Edda that this was Gungnir but the assumption appears to be there.

At the end at Ragnarok Odin again rides into battle with Gungir at his side.[Gylfaginning]

Wotan[Odin/Woden/Wodan/Wuotan] appears as one of the central characters of his Der Ring des Nibelungen tetralogy.
In Scene Two of Act Three of Siegfried[The third music drama in the Ring tetralogy] there is a confrontation between Wotan and his grandson Siegfried[Sigurd], the semi-divine Germanic hero in which Wotan`s spear Gungnir is shattered by Siegfried`s sword.

Wotan: "If you`re not afraid of the fire,
my spear will bar your way for you!
My hand still holds
the haft of power;
the sword you wield
was shivered ere now by this shaft:
once more let it
splinter upon my eternal spear!"

Siegfried: "My father`s foe!
Do I find you here?
What a glorious chance
for vengeance is this!
Stretch forth your spear:
my sword shall strike it in splinters!"

["With one blow, he strikes the Wanderer`s spear in two: a flash of lightning bursts forth from it towards the summit, where the glow, previously somewhat faint, now begins to blaze with ever-increasing fury. The blow is accompanied by a loud clap of thunder, which quickly dies away. The fragments of the spear fall at the Wanderer`s feet. He calmly gathers them up."]

Attempts have also been made over the years to draw a link between Gungnir and the Spear of Longinus[which pierced the side of Christ] or Parsifal`s spear.
Parsifal was the last of Wagner`s music dramas and follows on directly from Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Both Gungnir and Parsifal`s/Longinus` spear are weapons that bestow rulership of the world upon its owner and a future article will focus more closely on this legend.

There is also an obvious link between Gungnir and the Tir/Tiw/Teiwaz rune in both shape and meaning.
Tir heads the third aett of the Common Germanic Futharc and it has the meaning of war, victory, law and cosmic order and is associated with the ancient Germanic and Aryan sky god Tir. This rune also resembles Irmunsul the world tree.
Odin largely eclipsed and took over many of Tir`s functions and is often viewed as being a more recent deity than Tir.
The British Army along with other government departments inscribe this rune upon government property. This rune is often found upon ancient sword blades and spear points.

In the Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Futhorcs the Gar rune which is the 33rd and final rune has the literal meaning of a spear. Interestingly this rune unlike the previous 32 is not assigned to a specific aett in the Northumbrian system. This rune is considered to contain all the others within its form. It represents the beginning of a brand New Order.

Veleda

2008-09-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

Who was Veleda?
According to the Roman writer Tacitus writing in 98CE she was a Germanic Vala, a wise woman or prophetess from the Bructeri tribe and gained authority during the Batavian revolt due to foretelling success for the Germani and the destruction of the Roman legions.
Allegedly she lived in a tower along the river Lippe.
The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany between the rivers Lippe and Ems south of the Teutoberg forest in present day NordRhein-Westfalen. Reportedly they were allies with the Cherusci, the tribe led by the great Germanic chieftain and hero Arminius[Hermann].
Her kinsmen controlled access to her and would pass questions to her from those who came seeking consultations and then pass the answers back. She was held in high esteem by both the Germanic and Roman peoples. The Romans captured her in 78 CE and she was taken to Rome.
An inscription from the Italian town of Ardea refers to Valeda as "the tall maiden whom the Rhein-drinkers worship". Her fate is unknown.

"Tradition has it that various armies, already wavering and about to give way, have been rallied by women through steadfast entreaty and baring of breasts, revealing captivity close by. This they fear far more keenly for the sake of their women, so much so that to bid a state include well-born maidens among its hostages is to bind its spirit to greater effect.
Not only that, they even think that there is in them some holy and prophetic force, and they neither scorn their advice nor ignore their utterances. In the days of the Divine Vespasian we saw how Veleda was long esteemed by many as a supernatural power, and they have in the past revered Aurinia also, and many others: not like sycophants, though, making them gods."
Tacitus Germania, 8.1, 8.2.]

Other such inspired women include the Alemannic-Frankish woman Thiota, the seeress of the Semnones Ganna of the 1st century CE, Waluburg and the Gothic Haliarunnos.

This tradition continued well into the Viking age as testified in the Icelandic sagas, the most famous Icelandic sybil being Thordis Spakona.

Indeed the sagas reveal that even ordinary housewives were endowed with the ability to foretell the future, gifts of healing and the power to work spells of protection and power.

"Conan"-Man & Myth by Ron McVan

2008-08-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

"CONAN" - Man & Myth, By Ron McVan
"CONAN" - Man & Myth, By Ron McVan"Art is the right hand of nature. The latter has only givenus being, the former has made us men."..............................SchillerGreat myths are often born from the true, historical deeds of great men. In turn, these myths then become the heroic, idealistic examples which inspire individuals or a whole race to higher levels of achievement and ethnic cohesiveness. Further, the great heroes of legend are regarded as one who has performed extraordinaryly well in the face of a harsh, brutal or terrible destiny, as one possessed of superior soul, spirit, energy and will. The importance of myth should never be underestimated, for without it, a race drifts aimlessly through history like a body without a soul. Myth forms the identity and framework of the folk consciousness of a people.Not surprisingly, much of the myth of Northern Europe has been lost over the ages or deliberately eradicated through the suppressive controlling powers of church and state. The totalitarianism of church and state is what encouraged the French philosopher and playwright Denis Diderot to pen the statement, "Men will never be free till the last King is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." It has always been an essential step forward when old, heroic myths are revived or new ones evolve. Those who work to develop these myths do a great service to their people. One such individual of our time was Robert E. Howard, who despite the disadvantage of having lived only thirty years (1906-1936), nevertheless produced a considerable body of inspiring epic prose, poetry and heroic literature, such as "Conan the Cimmerian", which debuted in a syndicated magazine called "Wierd Tales" in December 1932. His character Conan was the spiritual succcessor to an earlier character, "Kull of Atlantis" which did not take off as he had hoped it would. The first Conan story titled "The Phoenix On The Sword" was actually a rewrite of a rejected Kull story, "By This Axe I Rule"."Civilized men are more discourteous than savages becausethey know they can be impolite without having their skulls split,as a general thing."...............................Robert E. HowardRobert Howard, much like his mentor, Jack London before him, was a proud Aryan with a keen understanding and feel for his ancestral roots. A large body of what he wrote borrowed heavily from the historic authenticity of Celtic culture. The era of his fictional Conan as described in his own words: "......between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas......" Howard described his Conan character in this manner: "Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed sword in hand, a theif, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandlled feet." Today, many might find it interesting to know that such an heroic Aryan warrior named Conan did in fact exist.In ancient Scotland the Celts had devised a means of script communication, known to those of the time as "Ogham", which means "grooved writing". It is an alphabet comprised of fifteen consonants and five vowels, together with a few other signs representing double letter sounds, such as "ng" and dipthongs. Many Ogham monumental stones, cromlechs, altars and subterranean stone chambers, were discovered in North America surprisingly (from Vermont to Oklahoma) and date back nearly 3,000 years to 800 BCE. The Celts were supurb seafarers and left indisputable evidence that they had already been in America at the very least 1,600 years before the Vikings who themselves had already arrived 500 years before Columbus. Recently it has been discovered that Ogham writings in stone have turned up as far west as Utah. In 1920 a Viking rune stone was even discovered 30 miles north of Spokane Washington which described a battle they had with the Indians at that time and the losses suffered. During the Middle Ages old Irish monks had composed books about the ancient Ogham script. Not all of the manuscripts can be classified as works of art, but some of the more commonplace in execution contained information which was priceless. Most notable is a volume known as the "Book of Ballymote". It was through this book that a door was opened which was to shed a light of great interest and discovery upon the historical Conan.Col. Charles Vallancey had been a scholar from the University of Edinburth in Scotland. The history of the Celts had been a lifelong interest to Vallancey and his fluent knowledge of Gallic language and the art of Ogham was to prove very helpful in his future endeavors.Vallancey's deductions from a manuscript on the Battle of Gabhra was the key element to arouse his antiquarian curiosity. This was a battle which occured in the year 283 CE and was part of the epic Celtic legends, known as the Ossianic Cycle. This critical section translates as follows: "The ferocious warrior Conan was not at Gebhra in the mighty strife; For on Beltane (i.e. May 1st ) of the previous year at the assembly convened to worship the sun, the bold hero was slain treacherously by the Fenians of Fionn. On the dark mountain of Callan. His grave was made on the northwest slope; Sadly plaintive was his dirge. And his name in Ogham is on a dressed stone."Vallancey was acquainted with the mountain called "Sliabh Calainn" in County Clare. He soon learned that on this mountain there was an ancient Celtic structure, known as a "cromlech" ( a tablelike, giant stone monument). He suspected that this might well be the grave of the historical warrior Conan. Col. Vallancey's first quest was to find out if the monument even carried an Ogham inscription.The year was 1784 and Vallancey contacted his friend, Theophilus O' Flannagan, who lived near the mountain, to ask if he would undertake the search to investigate the stone monument. About eight miles westward of the town of Ennis, O' Flannagan found a large altar about twelve feet by four, extending from East to West. Unfortunately, he was to find no markings of any inscription on the stone. Locals of the town nearby informed him that there was indeed a monument-type stone on the other side of the mountain which resembled a tombstone, and that it did have strokes engraved on it, very unlike letters. The stone stood eight feet in height and four feet in breath with an inscription which deciphered, translated into English letters, read: FA N L I DAF I CA CO NAN COL GAC COS OBMDAFrom this cryptic sequence Vallancey and O'Flannagan satisfied themselves that the tumulus had contained the body of a chieftain named "Conan Colgac", although the ancient Celtic script could not be completely translated. O'Flannagan was at first charged with having forged the inscription, but these charges were eventually proven to be baseless. Vallancey's pioneer work in deciphering Ogham was further refined and was to contribute to the decoding of 400 other such monuments in various parts of the British Isles.It is not known if Robert Howard had knowledge of the historical Conan, but there is good evidence to believe that he did. Cormac Mac Art was another popular heroic figure of Howard's pen. Historically, Cormac Mac Art was King of Ireland during the years 227-266 CE, and his son, Cairbri Mac Art, who succeeded him as High King of Tara, fought in the Battle of Gabhra. Whether Robert Howard was aware of the historical Conan is of no consequence. What does matter is the vibrant, heroic impact which has since evolved from the Conan archetype, and has surely helped to revive and broaden the spectrum of the Euro-indigenous myths of our Folk. Our ethnic Gods and heroes of legend are not so far removed from mankind. They experience many of the common realities, trials and tribulations that we ourselves experience. To emulate them is to lift ourselves and give higher purpose to our lives. By organically fusing the heroes qualities to our own is a means by which we might ingest the champion's spirit and force within ourselves and in that process makes us a part of his own living essence. In his youth Caesar was in awe of Alexander. In Alexander's youth he was in awe of Achilles and so it goes. Somewhere in that will to greatness we too find our own place, our destiny. An uninspired life is not worth the living. The Conan archetype not unlike the God Thor, exemplifies Aryan vitalism at its best. Conan is a symbol of strength, raw courage and iron will, the quintessential Aryan hero, that will surely continue to inspire generations of impressionable youth in these dismal anti-heroic times."Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood overquestions of reality and illusion. I know this: If life is an illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, theillusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and I am content."...........................Robert E. Howard

Migration

2008-08-17T03:02:00.000-07:00

The people of Allfather lived in the Middle Enclosure by the waters of the Black Sea. They had a common language and symbols, called runes, by which they represented the sun and the earth and the mysteries of life and what lies beyond it. Those mystical and secret shapes were used to invoke the forces of nature and the gods who controlled them.
With the passing of time the people divided into many tribes, each of which developed small differences in custom and dialect. As the tribes moved into new lands, some to the east and some to the west, they came to form two main language groups each of which spoke a slightly different tongue. We call one of these groups the Centum and the other Satem. From the Centum came the Germans, Greeks, Latins[Romans], Celts, Tocharians, Hittites and Albanians. From the Satem came the Balts, Indics, Iranians, Armenians and Slavs. They came to call the Gods by different names and worship them in different ways but they all gave praise to Sun and Moon, and the Sky Father and the Earth Mother.
One of the tribes, the Aesir, migrated to the north-west and followed great rivers and passed through vast forests and marshes. They travelled for many generations and faced great challenges and dangers together, and in doing so their sense of community and common purpose was strengthened. In the North they came to the land of the Vanir, a people who worshipped gods of the sea and of the earth. The Aesir found land for themselves and built houses, grew crops and raised cattle.
The Aesir were named after their Gods who were Gods of the sky, wisdom and war. The Vanir likewise shared the name of their Gods who were great workers of fetility and magic. Much blood was spilt in the long conflict and the people, and their gods, became weary of war. A truce was called and the two sides met to discuss the causes of the conflict and to see if a peaceful settlement could be reached. They could not agree about the cause of the war but they decided to live together in peace, and as proof of their good faith they agreed to an exchange of leaders. The Vanir sent the Daughter of the Sea to teach her hosts skills of magic, and the Aesir sent Mimir, the guardian of the well of wisdom and understanding, to provide wise counsel for the Vanir. The gods sealed the agreement by spitting into a communal bowl, and from the spittle they made a being blessed with great wisdom and powers of magic.
After many generations of living in isolation in the land called Scania, the two peoples became one. All the people prospered and there were many tribes, and many children: Scania became the womb of nations.

Over three thousand years ago some of the tribes moved south across the sea to Jutland and then further south to the great northern plain that stretches from beyond the Rhine in the west to beyond the Vistula in the east. Some turned west and followed the flat, low-lying North Sea coast where they found a mixture of bog, marshland, heath and moorland. There were also some areas of fertile land and in those places the people settled, and grew crops, and grazed cattle. Land at the mouth of the Weser and the Ems was particularly good and many settlements sprang up there. The population grew, and as it did so people moved up the rivers seeking new lands.

Some tribes, on reaching the northern plain, turned east and passed along the fertile coastal plain to the river Oder. As in the west, some tribes settled when they found suitable land while others moved on. Some reached the Oder and followed that river south, and settled to the east of it. Many turned neither east nor west but headed south, and settled on the banks of the lower Elbe, where they made their home. That river was to become an important route into the central uplands, and beyond to the River Danube.

As the tribes spread out they adapted their way of life so as to survive and prosper in the various lands and climates they found. The conditions they experienced gave rise to changes in the way they built their houses, grew their crops and kept their animals. That in turn influenced the way their communities and language evolved. At first the differences from tribe to tribe were small but as they spread out across the great plain the communities became more distinctive. Like all peoples, they had to solve the problems of feeding, housing and defending themselves. Different surroundings and climate gave rise to various solutions to basically the same problems. Societies, like other living things, must adapt to their environment or perish.

Although the tribes developed different skills, customs and dialects, the sense of being one people was preserved by the gleemen and other story tellers who travelled widely and spread news about the goings on in far off places. In those oral societies history was recorded in poems, many of which were about battles and the deeds of famous warriors. Group identity was also strengthened by the contact they had, during the push south, with peoples who were different from them in appearance, culture and religion.

As periodic waves of migration brought more tribes south from Scania the fertile lands near to the northern seas became heavilly settled. Areas of forest started to be cleared and there was an increase in movement along the river valleys towards the south-west.The great advance of the Northern people towars the central uplands took many generations to complete and as they pushed others before them. On reaching the higher ground they came into contact with Celtic societies who were unable to halt the advance or to prevent the people of Scania settling the land. The Celts had been a powerful military force in Europe and were responsible for many artistic and technological innovations. However, they were comparatively few in number and when they took control of large territories they could only do so as ruling elites. Eventually the ethnic Celts were lost in the vast populations they ruled.

Around 250 B.C.E., after a long period of consolidation and a growth in population, many of the Northern tribes renewed their advance into the Central Uplands and a new wave of migration began. The early movement was, as before, mostly south east along rivers that flowed from the uplands to the northern seas. When the tribes crossed the watershed, they travelled down the rivers flowing south-east to the Danube and the Black Sea. During the following 200 years the Northern peoples occupied, and took control of, most of the land between the Rhine and the Vistula, and the Danube and the Baltic. As they spread out across this vast territory they came to be described as Germans of the Sea, Germans of the Forest, and Germans of the Steppes. The Germans of the Sea gave praise to Ing, from whom they were descended, and among their number were the Engle, Friese, Eote and Seaxe[English Frisians, Jutes and Saxons].

Taken from Tony Linsell`s Anglo-Saxon Mythology, Migration & Magic

Genetic Evidence for the Germanic Identity of the English People

2008-05-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Evidence to support the concept that the English people are genetically a Germanic nation:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-396406/Were-Germans--1-600-years.html

It is a rivalry that has prevailed throughout two World Wars and countless football clashes. But it seems the English and Germans have more in common than one might have thought.
New research has found that the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain from the continent 1,600 years ago was so successful that native characteristics were virtually wiped out.
And as a result experts say this has left England with a population made up largely of Germanic genes and with a language that owes much to our Anglo-Saxon invaders.
The new study explains that the majority of original British genes were wiped out in favour of German ones through a system of apartheid set up by the invaders. This allowed the Anglo-Saxons to out-breed the Brits and our country became 'Germanised.'
It is thought between 10,000 and 200,000 Anglo-Saxons migrated from modern-day Germany, Holland and Denmark into what is now England between the fifth and seventh centuries AD. At this time there were more than two million native Britons living in the country.
But within just 15 generations, the British genes were on the way out, while the Germanic ones were flourishing.
Until now geneticists and archaeologists have been unable to reconcile how a relatively small number of invaders so successfully took over the UK gene pool. Now scientists have used computer analysis to work out how this could have been achieved within just a few hundred years.
They have concluded the Anglo-Saxons probably brought with them an apartheid regime, similar to that seen more recently in South Africa. Under this servant-master system, the Anglo-Saxons would have enjoyed a more prosperous existence and so their offspring would have flourished.
Through restricting intermarriage, they also helped prevent native British genes getting into their own population. This left England culturally and genetically 'Germanised', according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The authors pointed to the fact that ancient texts show a far greater value was put on the head of an Anglo-Saxon than a Briton. If an Anglo-Saxon was killed, the perpetrator's family had to pay 'blood money' two to five times greater than the fine payable for the life of a native person.
Lead researcher Dr Mark Thomas of University College London's department of Biology, said the ethnic distinction of the native British and Anglo-Saxon populations could only have lasted for so many years through some kind of social segregation.
He said: "The native Britons were genetically and culturally absorbed by the Anglo-Saxons over a period of as little as a few hundred years. An initially small invading Anglo-Saxon elite could have quickly established themselves by having more children who survived to adulthood, thanks to their military power and economic advantage.
"We believe they also prevented the native British genes getting into the Anglo-Saxon population by restricting intermarriage in a system of apartheid that left the country culturally and genetically Germanised.
"This is exactly what we see today - a population of largely Germanic genetic origin, speaking a principally German language."
The Anglo-Saxon period came to an end in 1066 when Duke William of Normandy came to England and defeated Harold in the Battle of Hastings. However the legacy of that time can be seen in modern-day place names that end in 'ham' which means settlement, 'ton' which means farm or village and 'den' which means hill.
Other words we still use today that can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era include daughter from 'dohter' and father from 'faether'.

Who are the Celtic Peoples?

2008-03-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Who are the Celtic peoples? In a certain sense this is potentially a more problematic question than the identity of the Germanic peoples. Tacitus referred to the Celtic peoples of the British Isles as having quite diverse physical characteristics.

"But their physical characteristics vary, and their variation is suggestive. The reddish hair and large limbs of the Caledonians proclaim a German origin; the swarthy faces of the Silures, the tendency of their hair to curl, and the fact that Spain lies opposite, all lead one to believe that Spaniards crossed in ancient times and occupied that part of the country. The peoples nearest to the Gauls likewise resemble them. It may be that they still show the effect of a common origin; or perhaps it is the climatic conditions that have produced this physical type in lands that converge so closely from north and south."
[Agricola II]

T.W. Rolleston in Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race wrote:

"To begin with we must dismiss the idea that Celtic was ever inhabited by a single pure and homogenous race. The true Celts, if we accept on this point the carefully studied and elaborately argued conclusion of Dr T. Rice Holmes, supported by the unanimous voice of antiquity, were a tall, fair race, warlike and masterful, whose place of origin[as far as we cantrace them] was somewhere about the sources of the Danube, and who spread their dominion both by conquest and by peaceful infiltration over mid-Europe, Gaul, Spain, and the British Islands."

"The ancients were not very close observers of physical characteristics. They describe the Celts in almost exactly the same terms as those which they apply to the Germanic races.

Ned Halley in the Introduction to the aforesaid work wrote:

"Who were the Celts? Their name came from the ancient Greeks, who used the sweeping term Keltoi for all the tall, fair-haired and warlike peoples who lived north of the Alps. Very broadly, the Celts of the ancient world were divided into two groups. The first were those of north-west Europe, including Scandinavia, later to be known as the Teutons, or Germans. Second were those of the regions of France we now know as the Auvergne, Brittany, and Normandy, Burgundy and Alsace-and beyond into Switzerland and Alpine Italy."

The modern Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Cornish and Breton peoples all trace their origins to the Celts of ancient Europe but to what extent is this true, bearing in mind that these peoples do not share a common racial phenotype. This is an issue which we will explore in a future article.

Who are the Germanic Peoples?

2008-03-23T08:08:00.001-07:00

First of all let us start with the Germanic peoples. There is a certain amount of controversy amongst scholars as to the identity of the ancient Germanic peoples with the peoples we consider to be Germanic today and I dare say there will never be a conclusive answer to this problem but nevertheless we have to start somewhere.
Tacitus writing
late in the 1st century CE has this to say about the boundary of the Germanic peoples:

"Germania as a whole is seperated from the Gauls and from the Raeti and Pannonii by the Rhine and Danube rivers, and from the Sarmatians and Dacians by mutual fear or mountains; the Ocean surrounds the rest, enveloping broad peninsulas and islands of immense expanse: various clans and kings have only recently become known to us, revealed by war." [Germania 1.1]

As for the Germanic peoples themselves he wrote:

"The Germani themselves are indigenous, I believe, and have in no way been mixed by the arrivals and alliances of other peoples, because in the past those who have sought to exchange their old territory for new did not come by land but were carried by fleets, and the Ocean beyond Germania, immeasureable and so to speak hostile, is visited by very few ships from our parts. Moeover, quite apart from the danger of a rough and unknown sea, who would abandon Asia and Africa or Italy and seek out Germania, with its unlovely landscape and harsh climate, dreary to inhabit and behold, if it were not one`s native land?"
[Germania 2.1]

Of their appearance he wrote:

"For myself, I agree with the views of those who think that the inhabitants of Germania have not been tainted by any intermarriage with other tribes, but have existed as a distinct and pure people, resembling only themselves. Consequently, they also all have the same physical appearance, so far as can be said for so numerous a people: fierce blue eyes, tawny hair, bodies that are big but strong only in attack."
[Germania 4.1]

Like Tacitus Caesar writing in the mid 1st century BCE in his The Gallic War also defines the territory of Germania to the east of the Rhine.

Purely on linguistic grounds the descendants of the ancient Germanics or Teutons are mainly to be found in Germany, Austria, German speaking Switzerland, England, the Netherlands, Flemish and German speaking Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland.
However in future articles we will explore how closely the link is between contemporary Teutons and those of ancient times.

Donald A. Mackenzie in his Teutonic Myths and Legends states:
"Both Celts and Teutons were blends of the same ancient races-the Alpine `broadheads` and the Northern `long heads`. They had therefore a common heritage of fused tribal beliefs, which must have varied, of course, in different districts. It may be that the westward-moving Celts, who absorbed the Mediterranean peoples of the late Stone Age, were, in turn, strongly influenced by their intellectual life, and that the Teutons came more directly under the spell of Asiatic modes of thought. At any rate it is evident that predominating fundamental conceptions of divergent origin exercised supreme control over the mental habits of the seperated sub-races."

Like all indigenous peoples the Teutons have a creation myth to account for the origins of their people. According to Germania 7 Mannus is the mythical Ur-ancestor of the Germanic peoples.
Mannus had a son Tuisto who in turn had three sons who gave their names to the three-fold division of the Germanic peoples into the Ingaevones, Herminones and the Istaevones. This genealogical structure is also found in the cosmogeny of the Edda where Buri-Borr-Odin/Vili/Ve are said to be the ancestors of the Germanic gods.